apple crumble cake

apple crumble cake (adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction )
crumble topping
1/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar (or more, if you'd like ^_^)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
1/4 cup oil (I used canola)
1/3 cup milk (I used coconut)
2 eggs
1/2 cup low fat plain greek yogurt
3 medium granny smith apples, peeled and cut into small chunks

to make the crumble topping
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a bowl, combine all the crumble topping ingredients. It might initially be difficult to incorporate the flour, but keep mixing until you have moist clumps.
to make the cake
2. In a separate bowl, beat the softened butter with the sugar until incorporated. Then, beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract. Then, mix in the yogurt, milk and oil.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in the apple chunks.
to assemble the cake
5. Pour batter into a greased 9x9 dish.
6. Pinch or spoon clumps of the crumble topping all over the batter's surface, covering the top of the cake.
7. Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350 F and continue to bake for approx. 35 minutes, or until the crumble topping is golden.

Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour. Refrigerate for 10 minutes if you can. Enjoy!!

hasselback potatoes photo diary

recipe here

coconut magic bars

 

One of the most tiresome, but necessary tasks after final exams are over is packing up all your belongings to move back home. Alas, if only it were as easy as throwing all your junk in one trunk and calling it a day.

Kind of like these coconut magic bars.

My theory is that the "magic" about magic bars is how you can take all your leftover bits, throw them in a dish and bake them into something delicious. Kind of like the midnight breakfast cookies. But come to think of it, how can you possibly go wrong with a combination of chocolate chips, coconut flakes and pretzels?

The most challenging part of this recipe is slowly boiling and coaxing the coconut milk into having a similar viscosity to condensed milk, You want to aim for about a little more than a cup of condensed coconut milk.

overnight coconut magic bars
crust
1 1/2 graham cracker crumbs
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/3 cup oil (I used corn)
coconut icing
1 13.5 oz. can full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
toppings 
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Optional: pretzels, butterscotch chips, marshmallows, nuts like pecans and peanuts

to make the crust
1. In a food processor, combine graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, egg and oil. Blitz until the texture is moist and clumpy.
2. Press the crumbs into the pan to form a crust.
3. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes, or until crust is set.
to make the icing
1. Heat the coconut milk and sugar in a pot over Medium heat. Stir for 20-30 minutes, until the coconut milk reduces to approx. 1 cup of liquid and is thickened in texture. You're not looking to get caramel here, but you do want something similar to sweetened condensed milk.
2. When desired texture is reached,
to assemble the layers
1. Sprinkle on a layer of chocolate chips.Then, layer on the pretzels (and other toppings of your choosing.
2. Sprinkle coconut flakes as the top layer.
3. Pour the coconut icing over the entire bar, creating a layer that will "set" all the other toppings.
4. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. At this point, the bars will still be pretty soft, especially because they are coconut based. Refrigerate them for a few hours or overnight to allow them to firm up, until the coconut icing has set.

Betty's funfetti fudge

My friend Betty is a woman of many trades. In addition to her medical prowress (she's pre-med), she makes amazing soul food - namely, her slutty brownies and snickerdoodles and so much more. Recently I learned that Betty is a funfetti addict. While I won't go into the details of her addition, I will share this gorgeous treat she made. It's funfetti fudge with white chocolate, and it's somewhere between fudge and frosting and sugary crack that melts on your tongue into your dentist's worst nightmare. Isn't it so darn pretty? Almost too pretty to eat!