Sunday, March 6, 2011

Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Okay, this cake is amazing. We have made 2 apple cakes in the last few weeks and this won the vote as best. Both were rated really high -- one on Allrecipes.com and this one from Cooking Light. If you are not already familiar with Cooking Light, 170 is A LOT of reviews for them. And they are all 5 stars!

A lot of reviewers say they use this cake for Thanksgiving and it is definitely worthy of an autumn holiday meal. It is often used for brunch as well. The presentation is as beautiful as the picture indicates if you use a spring-form pan. So easy too!

I need more recipes like this one.



Cinnamon-Apple Cake


Cinnamon-Apple Cake

Outstanding

This 5-star cinnamon apple cake is one of our best-ever recipes and can be served as dessert or a breakfast coffee cake. The cream cheese in the batter gives the cake lots of moisture.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
  • 1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large) Note: I used 3 Granny Smith apples!
  • Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (I beat for 1 minute after each egg). Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture. I only had a 10-inch springform pan but it still turned out beautiful!

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife. WARNING: A lot of the reviews said it only took about 1 hour to cook. I set my timer for 55 minutes and it was done (note my different size pan though). Start checking the cake early.

Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Calories:
281 (28% from fat)
Fat:
8.7g (sat 1.8g,mono 3.7g,poly 2.6g)
Protein:
4.8g
Carbohydrate:
46.3g
Fiber:
1.2g
Cholesterol:
39mg
Iron:
1.1mg
Sodium:
234mg
Calcium:
89mg
Cooking Light, OCTOBER 1997

Herb Rubbed Top Sirloin Pork Roast

We tried this recipe tonight on Top Sirloin Pork Roast and loved it. Our meat weighed about 1.75 lbs. so the rub was a little too spicy for some but easy for David to remove. The meat cooked perfectly. We will definitely use again on a larger roast. This is an easy recipe.

It was adapted from this recipe:


Herb Rubbed Top Sirloin Pork Roast


Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 (3 pound) sirloin tip roast (we used top sirloin pork roast)

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the paprika, kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme. Stir in the olive oil, and allow the mixture to sit about 15 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  3. Place the roast on the prepared baking sheet, and cover on all sides with the spice mixture.
  4. Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven, or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Let sit 15 minutes before slicing.

Nutritional Information open nutritional information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 394 | Total Fat: 25.5g | Cholesterol: 121mg