Apple Muffins with nutmeg and cinnamon

I chose a delicious apple muffin recipe to post today. The muffins are incredibly moist, soft and very aromatic with a nice touch of nutmeg and cinnamon. They aren't very sweet themselves, so the key here is to sprinkle some sugar on the top before baking. The sugar gets nice and crusty and tasty truly delicious.

The recipe for these has somehow special meaning to me as these were the first muffins I’ve ever had in my life, and also the first ones I’ve ever baked myself. I was nineteen years old and I had just bought one of my first cookbooks ever, which happen to be entirely devoted to muffins. In Poland where I grew up, muffins have never been particularly popular and it was nearly impossible to buy muffin pans at that time, so I made them in tartlets molds (the same ones which I used for pistachio and raspberry financiers a few weeks ago ). The day I baked them my sister had guests. They loved my little baked goods so much that a moment later I was trying another recipe from the same book. I chose white chocolate muffins with some sliced almonds sprinkled on the top. They came out the same delicious and I still bake them often, so I’ll surely post the recipe here some day.

According to the recipe this should make 6 large muffins. I use smaller muffin pan which usually makes sixteen.

Apple Muffins with nutmeg and cinnamon

FOR THE MUFFINS:

375 g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tbsp caster sugar
155 g unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
2 eggs
170 ml milk
3 apples

FOR THE CINNAMON SUGAR:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tbsp caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Grease or line muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
2. Peel and core the apples. Cut into very small cubes. (or grate).
3. Sift all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
4. Heat the butter with honey over low heat until melted.
5. In a separate small bowl, mix together the eggs and milk.
6. Pour the egg mixture and the butter mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Add the apples and mix.
7. Spoon into the muffin pan filling ¾ full.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.
9. Let cool slightly before removing from the pan. Serve warm or cold.

Source of the recipe: Le codron Bleu Home Collection: Muffins, modified

Print the recipe

Recipe in Polish:
Muffinki z jabłkami

Autumn Hazelnut Cake

Hazelnut was the first nut I’ve had in my life. When I was 2 years old we had a hazelnut tree in our garden. One of my earliest childhood memories is the one of my grandfather picking up a nut from the tree for me. He was choosing the biggest and the most beautiful one and it made me feel so special… When I was three we moved out from the house and I have never seen a hazelnut tree again, but my love for hazelnuts has remained unchanged.

So, when I saw the recipe for a cake with hazelnuts and pieces of dark chocolate on Every Cake You Bake blog, I couldn’t wait to try it. I made the cake last Friday and it turned exactly as I had imagined - extremely moist and fluffy with a wonderful hazelnut flavor. The combination of flavors and textures in the cake is just perfect.The pieces of chocolate taste absolutely sensational when they melt in your mouth and the apples add extra moistness to the cake.

The recipe originally comes from an Austrian leaflet and was called Autumn Apple and Nut Cake, but since the cake has strong nutty flavor and the apple flavor is very subtle, I’ve decided to change the name. I also altered the recipe slightly by reducing the amount of sugar (the original called for 250 g ).

Autumn Hazelnut Cake
(adapted from Every Cake You Bake blog)

6 eggs, separated
250 g unsalted butter or margarine
200 g sugar
250 g all purpose flour
1 packet (16 g) vanilla sugar
3-3,5 teaspoons baking powder
120 g hazelnuts
100 g dark chocolate
2 apples peeled, cored, and cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 140°C (280 F)

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the sugars and beat again until mixture comes together and is no longer crumbly.
Add the flour and baking powder and stir with a spoon until well combined. Then, stir in the apples.

Put all the nuts into a food processor and grind up without turning them into a powder.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold in the chocolate pieces and ground hazelnuts. Gently fold the egg whites mixture into the batter.

Pour the mixture into the greased and floured springform pan and bake for 1 1/2 hour.