Apple Crostata for Two
We went apple picking and we have A LOT of apples around here so I’ve been thinking of ways to use them up but keep it simple at the same time. I just don’t want to go to the trouble of baking a whole pie for two people. These mini apple crostatas are easy and quick to throw together with their fold-over crust. The apples are spiced with a little cinnamon and cardamom, one spice that is comfortingly familiar and the other is appealingly different. These crostatas are rustic and elegant and just the thing to treat yourself without over-doing it as you only get one. You have to share the other! 
Using a mix of sweet and tart apples offers a perfect balance of flavors. I used Stayman Winesap and Red Delicious as that is what we picked on our apple picking trip to Terhune Orchards.
You don’t want the filling to be dry so to remedy this, sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar and dotted butter over the crostatas.
Allowing the tarts to cool on a wire rack is the last small but significant step toward a crisp crust. This keeps the crust from steaming itself as it cools.
For the effort used to throw together these crostatas, the reward was amazing!
We saw this cute dog on our way out of Terhune Orchards and I had to get a pic of him. <3
Apple Upside-Down Cake
Growing up in Florida I never saw an apple tree, I saw plenty of orange trees but always wished I could go apple picking. I would see images of people on fun apple picking outings and feel instantly envious! I wanted fall leaves and crisp cool autumn days! While everyone up north was wearing cozy fall sweaters I was still wearing my shorts and flip flops and blasting the air-conditioner! (I have to admit though that when there’s so much ice on the ground in the winter that I can’t walk my chihuahua I wish for Florida weather! ) Ack! We wish for what we don’t have sometimes! 
I didn’t get to see a real live apple tree until I moved to New York six years ago. Since picking my own apples was something I always wanted to do, when I got the chance I picked way too many for two people to ever eat! We gave some away but still had too many so I started making spiced apples in the crockpot for spooning over vanilla ice cream and stirring into oatmeal but I wanted to try a recipe that just lets the flavor of the apples shine through. I think this upside-down cake recipe really showcases my gorgeous apples without hiding behind a lot of spices although if you really wanted to you could certainly throw in some apple pie spice if you like.
The cake part of the recipe is really just a quick bread so it comes together easily plus the addition of cornmeal in the batter helps the cake hold up to the weight of the apples. Pre-cooking some of the apples before putting them in the bottom of the pan infuses the apples with caramel-like buttery goodness!
I definitely recommend using firm apples like Granny Smith so that your apples hold their shape during the cooking process. I did mix it up with what I used but all the apples I had were pretty firm.
You will need a 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides for this cake. If you don’t have one you could use an 8-inch square pan. Give this easy cake a try and let me know what you think!
Apple Crumble with Salted Butter Caramel Sauce
So, desserts have always been my thing and everyone is asking…”Where are your desserts?!” Scaling down desserts for two isn’t the easiest thing in the world but this one was super easy! So here it is, my first dessert on the blog and I promise many more to come!
Now I know that they say that an apple a day will keep the doctor away but what about an apple crumble?! I kind of doubt it, but this recipe is still great because of it’s perfect little sweet portion control size! You only get one and it really is just the right amount! Everything in moderation, right?
I love everything apple. Apple pie a la mode is one of my favorite desserts but most of the time I don’t want to fuss with making a crust for apple pie. That’s why I love apple crumble! I have had some crumbles that ended up with a soggy topping and flavorless filling until I tried this recipe with a simple way to make crisp, crunchy crumble and an apple filling that tastes like apple!
Another thing I love is caramel. Caramel and apples just go together! I decided that I wanted to have that caramel flavor with my crumble so I made a quick no-stir Salted Butter Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the top! Yeah, I don’t know when to stop. As if that wasn’t enough, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Maybe that’s gilding the lily but so what, I like my lilies gilded!
The trick to keeping your crumble crisp is to bake it for 20 minutes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet before adding it to the apple filling. This step insures perfect crumble every time!
