French Apple Cake

My brother loves anything apple paired with ice cream so for his birthday this year I baked a French apple cake. The recipe is from Dorie Greenpan's french baking cookbook and is fabulous. It isn't really a cake so much as a cake tin full of apple chunks with just enough batter to (sort of) hold things together. The key was to use different types of apples so there was different apple flavors and textures in each bite. It was awesome with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Happy Birthday Vij. I love you!!!

Ingredients:

110g AP Flour

3/4 tsp Baking powder

pinch salt

4 large apples (different varieties)

2 large eggs

150g sugar

3 Tbsp dark rum

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Method:

- Preheat oven to 350F and generously butter an 8" springform cake pan

- In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder

- Peel and core apples. Cut them into 1 inch pieces.

- In a large bowl whisk eggs until frothy, add sugar and whisk to combine. Add rum and vanilla.

- Add half of flour to egg mixture then half of butter. Whisk until combined then add remaining flour and finish with butter. The cake batter should be thick

- Fold in apple pieces until they are all covered with batter. Pour into cake tin and smooth the top with spatula so it is relatively flat

- Bake for 50-60 minutes until a tester comes out clean and the top is nice and brown

- Serve with vanilla ice cream (or cinnamon ice cream if you can find it because that sounds like heaven)

Manicotti

Oh my gosh late summer tomatoes are the best!!! We served a late summer tomato (can you call them that when it's November???) salad with the tastiest Manicotti evah!!! And my Ironman is a Manicotti aficionado so I don't make that statement lightly. This recipe is an America's Test Kitchen recipe so of course it was awesome.

The only change I made was instead of fresh basil in the cheese mixture I added basil pesto because basil isn't in season. In the sauce I added some Italian seasoning.

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes (in juice)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes , optional
Salt & Pepper
1 T Italian seasoning

Cheese Filling and Pasta

3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 large eggs , lightly beaten

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon basil pesto
16 Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles

Method:

1. For the Sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse 1 can tomatoes with their juice in food processor until coarsely chopped, 3 or 4 pulses. Transfer to bowl. Repeat with remaining can tomatoes.

2. Heat oil, garlic, and pepper flakes (if using) in large saucepan over medium heat until fragrant but not brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil; adjust seasoning with salt.

3. For the cheese filling: Combine ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan, mozzarella, eggs, salt, pepper, and herbs in medium bowl; set aside.

4. To assemble: Pour 1 inch boiling water into 13 by 9-inch broilersafe baking dish, then add noodles one at a time. (NOTE: I used about 4 cups of boiling water — it was more than an inch high, but the noodles weren’t completely covered otherwise.) Let noodles soak until pliable, about 5 minutes, separating noodles with tip of sharp knife to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water and place in single layer on clean kitchen towels; discard water in baking dish and dry baking dish.

5. Spread bottom of baking dish evenly with 1 1/2 cups sauce. Using soupspoon, spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture evenly onto bottom three-quarters of each noodle (with short side facing you), leaving top quarter of noodle exposed. Roll into tube shape and arrange in baking dish seam side down. Top evenly with remaining sauce, making certain that pasta is completely covered.

6. Cover manicotti with aluminum foil. Bake until bubbling, about 40 minutes, then remove foil. Remove baking dish, adjust oven rack to uppermost position (about 6 inches from heating element), and heat broiler. Sprinkle manicotti evenly with remaining 1 cup Parmesan. Broil until cheese is spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then serve.