Apple and Sparkling Cider Pound Cake

With holiday season fast approaching, we all find ourselves stuck in some variation of a tenuous relationship with food.

Some of us fear putting on the so-called “holiday pounds” so greatly that we have to create a damage-avoidance plan with a built-in “just say no” policy in regards to… well, pretty much everything that isn’t weight management friendly.

Others of us revel in the pies and cookies and third helpings of gravy-drenched mashed potatoes, throwing caution to the wind and rationalizing our decisions by resolving to join a gym on January 1st. Come January, we make the gym visits just routine enough to get our lazy, squishy asses back to the way they were before our annual day-after-Halloween-70%-off-bags-of-candy shopping spree. We say goodbye to the gym shortly thereafter, and only return about a month before Halloween so we can see to it that we look like, so totally hot in our sexy hamburger costume on the 31st.

The rest of us find ourselves in an epic tug-of-war between the two opposing philosophies; we ricochet back and forth between self-discipline and pure gluttony like a pinball diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, weaving in and out of guilt and pleasure and sometimes feeling both at once.

Regardless of where you stand on the spectrum of holiday-induced disordered eating, each and every last one of us has what I like to call an “exception food.” An exception food is that one irresistible thing that you can’t refuse when you’re trying to behave, and that food that moves you to consume excessive amounts of it even when you’re being naughty. When you close your eyes and envision the holidays, a neon flashing image of this food sears itself onto the canvas of your inner eyelids. It is your Achilles’ heel, your deepest desire, and, whatever it is, it replaces the sugar plum fairies that dance in your head.

For me, it’s apple cider. Cider doughnuts, cider cupcakes, sparkling cider, spiced cider, baked apples drizzled in a cider glaze– really, just apple cider in any of its innumerable manifestations.

I decided to pop a bottle of bubbly [cider], put my cheese grater to another use, and try something new.
Shredded Apple and Sparkling Cider Pound Cake






Shredded Apple and Sparkling Cider Pound Cake



Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour


Yield: 1 loaf



Ingredients

For the poundcake:

1/2 cup (one stick) sweet cream unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup refined sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sparkling apple cider (I used Martinelli's brand)
1/2 cup shredded apple (I used a Granny Smith apple)


For the glaze:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sparkling apple cider

Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2.Grease and flour a 9" x 5" loaf pan
3.Combine butter, sugar, and shortening in a medium bowl and beat with a hand-held mixer, add eggs one at a time, mixing in between
4.In a separate small bowl, pour flour, salt, and baking powder; stir until mixed
5.Slowly add contents of small bowl to the bowl containing wet ingredients, beat with mixer until thoroughly incorporated
6.Add sparkling cider and mix
7.Stir in shredded apple with a wooden spoon
8.Pour batter into loaf pan, bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
9.Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then remove from pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack
10.In a medium bowl, whisk together sparkling cider, cinnamon, brown sugar, and powdered sugar
11.Drizzle glaze over cooled loaf
12.Allow glaze to set, then wrap loaf in Saran wrap and foil and store in refrigerator (I actually like to freeze mine until serving-- that way, it stays fresh!)
13.Top with two cinnamon sticks when ready to serve for pretty presentation

Sparkling Cider Baked Apples



Use up what’s left of the sparkling cider by making sparkling cider baked apples!








Sparkling Cider Baked Apples



Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes


Yield: 4 apples


Ingredients
4 apples (I'd recommend Honey Crisp, Johnathon, or Granny Smith)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup diced pecans
1/2 cup sparkling cider
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup water

Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2.Core apples, leaving about 1/2 inch of core at the base
3.In a small mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pecans, sparkling cider, salt, and cinnamon
4.Use a spoon to scoop mixture into the opening of each apple
5.Place 1/2 Tablespoon of butter on top of each apple opening
6.Place apples in a small baking dish
7.Pour water into the baking dish so it surround the bases of the apples
8.Bake apples for 35-40 minutes
9.Remove from oven and enjoy


*Baked apples pair well with homemade cinnamon ice cream!

希望能对那些喜欢苹果酒蛋糕的朋友有所帮助。