Apple Nut Muffin Cake

Apple Nut Muffin Cake
from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup apple cider
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 stick (8 TBSP) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp slat
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3/4 cup old-fahsioned oats
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and cut into small dice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup moist, plump raisins

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Use an 8-inch square pan, buttered and floured.

Whisk together milk, cider, egg, vanilla and almond extracts and butter in small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt to combine thoroughtly. Toss in the brown sugar, making sure there aren't any lumps by running it through your fingers, then add the oats and whisk the dry ingredients a few more times to mix. Switch to a large rubber spatula and stir in the liquid ingredients, stirring just until everything is moistened--as with muffins, less mixing is better than more. Gently stir in the apple, nuts and raisins, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for a couple of minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding the cake; invert and cool until warm or to room temperature.

Notes: Leaving out the raisins since I am not fond of those, didn't hurt this recipe at all. Yum.

Posted by Jennifer at January 22, 2007 2:21 PM | TrackBack