After this weekend’s rain, it seems fall weather has finally arrived. It was delightful weather in which to bake two autumnal desserts to bring to a friend’s home for dinner. I decided to make Apple Cider Madeleines and Big Apple Crumb Cake.
 
The first recipe comes from The New York Times, November 2020 article, “Bring the Apple Cider Doughnuts to You.” When reading the recipe online, one of the comments was that someone had decided to make them as Madeleine cookies instead of doughnuts. I thought this would be perfect for a gathering as everyone could have as many small tastes as they wanted. The Big Apple Crumb Cake is from the website “Smitten Kitchen,” by Deb Perelman.
For my apple ingredients, I visited Dreyer Farms in Cranford, NJ and picked up a half gallon of Melick’s Town Farm Apple Cider and a couple of Cortland apples. 
For the Madeleine’s you’ll need two Madeleine pans, nonstick cooking spray, all-purpose flour, baking powder, fine sea salt, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, 2 sticks of butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla extract and 1/2 cup apple cider. Another piece of advice I noted from the comments, was to take 1 cup of cider and reduce down to 1/2 a cup to concentrate the apple flavor.
 
First, the dry ingredients are measured off and set aside. Using either a stand or hand mixer, butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar are mixed until fluffy. Eggs are added one at a time and incorporated before adding the next one. Vanilla extract is added and mixed in. This is followed, by the dry ingredients being incorporated followed by the apple cider being slowly drizzled in.
 
You can either bake them in two doughnut pans , as muffins or as I did, Madeleines. For a baking time, I baked at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Whichever way you decided, you’ll need to melt butter for brushing on the final product and dredge in cinnamon and sugar. If you prefer, you can leave plain or use confectioners’ sugar.
 
What a delicious little cookie; everyone enjoyed them. They were the perfect snacking size. To cut down on the sweetness, I just brushed the ridge side of the cookies and sprinkled on the cinnamon sugar. (I used 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon)
 
My second dessert was also excellent. For the recipe you’ll need 1 pound (I chose a firm baking apple) of apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, granulated sugar, light or dark brown sugar, kosher salt, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, an egg, sour cream, vanilla extract and baking powder.
 
The apples can be peeled, or not, cored and cut into 1/2-inch wedges and tossed with the lemon juice and sugar. The crumbs are made by melting the butter and whisking in the sugars, cinnamon and salt before adding the flour.  For the cake, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla; mix. Next add the baking powder and salt; combine. Lastly, add flour and just mix until all the flour is incorporated; avoid over mixing. The cake is baked for 50 to 55 minutes.
 
I let my cake cool completely before removing from the pan. Just a note, I made a parchment sling, so that I could just lift the cake out of the pan without inverting it.
 
This cake was fabulous! It had the perfect crumb to cake ratio, not too sweet, the apples cooked perfectly and retained their structure. Everyone enjoyed this dessert too. 
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
“Bring the Apple Cider Doughnuts to You”
By Erin Jeanne McDowell, The New York Times
November 20, 2020
 
Yield: 12 doughnut muffins
Time: 35 Minutes
 
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1¾ cup/225 grams all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
¾ cup/165 grams light brown sugar
¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup/120 milliliters apple cider
 
Preparation
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 (6-cavity) doughnut pans (or a 12-cup muffin tin) with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream 10 tablespoons/140 grams butter, brown sugar and ¼ cup/50 grams granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated after each addition, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  3. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. With the mixer running, add the apple cider in a slow, steady stream and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl well to make sure the batter is homogeneous.
  4. Spoon the batter into prepared doughnut pans, filling them about ⅔ of the way. (You can also do this using a disposable piping bag or a resealable plastic bag with a ½-inch opening cut from one corner.) Bake until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. (If you are making muffins, divide batter evenly between the prepared cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.)
  5. While the doughnuts bake, whisk the remaining ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl to combine. In a separate small bowl, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in the microwave. Let the doughnuts cool for 5 minutes after baking, then unmold them from the pans, brush with the melted butter and dredge them in the cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature.
​Big Apple Crumb Cake
By Deb Perelman, “Smitten Kitchen”
 
Servings: 12 to 16
Prep 30 Minutes
Baking: 1 hour
 
Ingredients
 
APPLES
1-pound apples (3 medium or 2 large), peeled if you wish, cored, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
 
CRUMBS
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (65 grams) light or dark brown sugar
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
 
CAKE
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup (80 grams) sour cream
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
 
FINISH
Powdered sugar, for dusting
 
Heat oven: To 325°F (165°C). Lightly coat an 8-inch square or 9-inch cake pan with butter or nonstick spray. For extra security, line it with parchment paper.
 
Prepare apples: Toss apples with lemon juice, then cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
 
Make crumbs: Whisk butter, sugars, cinnamon, and salt together until evenly mixed. Add flour and mix until it disappears. It’s going to be very thick; set it it aside.
 
Make cake: Beat butter with sugar until lightened and fluffy. Add egg, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until combined. Sprinkle surface of batter with with baking powder and salt, and beat well to combine. Add flour and mix only until it disappears.
 
Assemble: Scrape batter into prepared cake pan and smooth it flat. Arrange apples on cake, slightly overlapped. I usually fit all but 2 wedges; those are cook’s snacks. Pour any cinnamon-apple juices in bottom of bowl over apples. Sprinkle crumbs over apple slices. For bigger crumbs, squeeze the crumbs into small fistfuls and break these up into a couple bigger chunks over the cake.
 
Bake: Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the apples doesn’t hit any crisp spots and if you look closely, you’ll see juices bubbling around some apples, about 50 to 55 minutes.
 
Cool to room temperature, if you can bear it, before cutting into squares or wedges. Dust generously with powdered sugar.
 
Cake keeps at room temperature loosely covered (in an airtight container, the crumbs eventually soften) for 3 days or in the fridge, well-wrapped, for 6 days.