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Monday 18 July 2011

cinnamon apple muffin cake

Life has been hectic lately. Work, extracurricular activities and social commitments swirl madly through my days, and inevitably, some things fall by the wayside.

This blog post is one such example. I tend to write a rough draft of my recipe ideas first, then do the fine-tuning as I trial them in the kitchen, updating my notes as I go; a method that usually works well. For this particular blog post, however, all I could find was my original recipe draft, so I've had to piece that together with my memories of the afternoon to recollect the ingredients and steps I added along the way... so you can see how this could, in fact, turn out to be not a recipe for cinnamon apple muffin cake, but rather a recipe for disaster. However, with a bit of work, I'm pretty sure I've finally got this right. Yes!

Folding in the sweet, buttery, cinnamon-spiced apple cubes.

This cinnamon apple muffin cake is yet another one of my simple mini loaf creations. I created it especially for my friend Kelvin's housewarming party, where, to my delight, it was enthusiastically finished by the guests in no time at all.

The secret? I lovingly cooked the apple cubes in a lush, sigh-inducing mix of butter, sugar and cinnamon before folding them to the batter. Yeah, it was hard to go wrong from there onwards...

mini cinnamon apple muffin cake
(mini loaf pan dimensions: 18cm (l) x 10cm (w) x 5.5cm (h) exterior, 15 x 8 x 5.5cm interior.)


for the cake:

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1.5cm/0.5 inch cubes
1/4 cup butter, plus more for greasing
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup self raising flour (or 1 cup flour + 1.5 teaspoons baking powder)
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 180C fan-forced, or 200C regular.
Simmer apple cubes, butter, sugar, cinnamon together over a low medium heat for 5 minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat and set aside to let it cool slightly.
Place self raising flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre.
In another bowl, lightly whisk egg, then add milk and salt. Continue whisking till well combined.
Pour eggy milk mixture into the centre of the bowl with the self-raising flour and stir through gently a few times until just combined.
Pour in the apple mixture. Again, stir until just combined, taking care not to overmix the batter.
Grease the loaf tin with butter. Pour the batter in and smooth the top.
Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is a lovely golden brown.
(Note: You may also bake the batter in muffin moulds, and if so, they should be done in 20 - 25 minutes.)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then lightly run a knife along the edges of the tin and tip the cake out onto a serving plate.

for the cinnamon syrup glaze:

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons raw sugar
3 tablespoons water

Combine cinnamon, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for another minute.
If you're planning on keeping this cinnamon apple muffin cake for later, brush cinnamon syrup liberally all over the cake and let it absorb before storing. Alternatively, if you're planning to eat the cake while it's still warm, just slice and serve with a drizzle of the syrup.

Enjoy!

my cinnamon apple muffin cake, waiting to be turned out, glazed, and enjoyed with friends...

30 comments:

  1. A dandy re-creation! My blueberry crop is still booming (must like dry heat)so I've been making blueberry bread but come apple season . . .

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  2. It looks beautiful! Not a single cube of that apple would have made it into the batter if I was making it.

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  3. Thanks Rosemary! Love the sound of your blueberry bread too.

    Foodycat, those warm, buttery cinnamon apple cubes were certainly a tease, and I certainly did not entirely resist them when I was working on this cake. ;)

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  4. Apple and cinnamon are the best together, looks lovely.

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  5. Mmm. I'm bookmarking this for the fall...

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  6. Gosh! Those pics are just so delicious! Wish I could just scoop them out!

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  7. I love apples and cinnamon. Wished me sister would love it as much as i do so we can bake this!

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  8. this looks amazing- thanks so much for sharing :D

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  9. Uuhhh I can just smell that aroma, literary! ( I had a gift from a friend, apple cinnamon aromatic candles). Bad gift! Makes me hungry all night long.
    I, too, have pending drafts of recipe ideas sitting since internet was created. Hahaha.

    The apple must be cooked first, that's for sure. Otherwise it would be too crunchy for a tender comfort housewarming love in the wintery Melbourne ay?
    Talking about Melbourne, I'm headin over there in 2 weeks (psych conference). What would be your personal top 3 places to eat there (regardless of fanciness)?

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  10. *melts* Oh, you genius you, how I long for a still-warm, syrupy hunk of this and a little dainty spoon to make it last forever!

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  11. looks amazing, apple cooked in butter certainly tastes amazing, actually pretty much everything tastes better cooked in butter ;)

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  12. Love anything baked with apples! Yum! Btw I adapted your
    Pao de Queijo recipe and posted on my blog :) thanks for a great recipe!

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  13. Yeah, the blog does take a hit when you're busy...I do the same too. Or when I'm not home in hours of sun and so can't take photos.
    The cinnamon apple muffin cake sounds delicious. And really nice for your winter :)

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  14. Thank you everyone! Your comments always warm me up like a slice of good cake. xx

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  15. Oh, my heart this looks so good! Just my kind of cake - warm, spicy and perfect with tea.

    I completely understand about life getting hectic. Work is always getting in the way of my baking and sunlight for photographs too :)

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  16. I know life can get pretty busy at times. This cake is a perfect example of indulgence. It has every component that I just love.

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  17. I adore the combination of cinnamon and apple - the two were meant to be together! This cake sounds delicious!

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  18. I want to make this!! I shall!!! I love apple cakes...

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  19. Thank you, all! And yes! We need more leisure time and natural light in our lives, like we need cinnamon, and apple, and cake... very important pleasurable things, all of that.

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  20. A huge mountain of cinnamon apple cake (tsk last picture). Yum. :)

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  21. Cinnamon and apple sounds so comforting for a cooling weather - give me some of your warm muffin cakes.

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  22. Che-Cheh (love your username!) - it's actually a mini mountain, though I guess macro photography makes it look quite generously sized. ;)

    tigerfish, come get it! :D

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  23. nice job piecing together the recipe - like hearing about your processes - I tend to type up notes after I make the recipe - though if I am messing about with one I might write up notes beforehand - have just scheduled an apple cake recipe to post in a week or so that I made in april - it is hard to keep up with apple cakes :-)

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  24. Thanks for sharing! Going to make it now... Looks simple enough to kick my butt;).

    I'm Malaysian btw. Nice to meet you.

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  25. Thanks, all!
    Nice to meet you too, pc! :)

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  26. Looks wonderful! Will be trying it soon.

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