Apple Upside Down Cake + Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread

Good Evening!

I have been a busy little bee and have had some excuses to bake which is pretty much my favorite thing to do.  I volunteered to bring a cake to a school function and have been dying to make the Apple Upside Down Cake from Cooking Light.

It was a fun cake to make and it turned out to be a moist and beautiful cake.

You first make a caramel sauce with sugar and water and pour it on the bottom of the cake pan and then layer it with apples and walnuts.  Yum!

Top the apples with the cake batter and then bake.

Then the real fun begins once you get to flip the cake and it becomes Apple Upside Down Cake!

Apple Upside Down Cake

from Cooking Light

Mild Rome apples are great for baking. You can also use Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, or Jonagold apples. Dollop the cake with a bit of whipped cream, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 slice) Ingredients Topping: Cooking spray 3/4  cup  sugar 1/4  cup  water 3  cups  (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled Rome apples (about 2 large) 1/4  cup  chopped walnuts Cake: 5.3  ounces  cake flour (about 1 1/3 cups) 1 1/2  teaspoons  baking powder 1/4  teaspoon  salt 2/3  cup  sugar 3  tablespoons  butter, softened 2  large egg yolks 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk 3  large egg whites Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.

2. To prepare topping, combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring gently as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 3 minutes). Continue cooking for 4 minutes or until golden (do not stir). Immediately pour into prepared cake pan, tipping quickly to coat bottom of pan. Arrange apple slices in concentric circles in pan over the warm caramel. Sprinkle with nuts; set aside.

3. To prepare cake, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir with a whisk.

4. Combine 2/3 cup sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla to sugar mixture; beat until combined. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

5. Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl. Beat egg whites with mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Spread batter over apples. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack in pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges of cake with a knife; invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature. Nutritional Information Calories: 253 Fat: 6.6g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.6g,poly 1.7g) Protein: 3.9g

Keeping with theme of Apples and Walnuts, I had some extra apple slices and decided to saute them in a little bit of butter and cinnamon until they were soft and then doused them with maple syrup to make a little Apple Compote.  My absolute favorite oatmeal combo lately has been Apple Compote + Walnut Oatmeal.  It tastes like a little piece of guilt free apple pie in the morning and I love it!

Apple Compote + Walnut Oatmeal

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup skim milk

1 tbsp of Salba

dash of cinnamon

Combine above ingredients and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat at top with:

Apple Compote

+

1 tbsp Walnuts

Enjoy!

I hate to waste food but have a ?thing? about too ripe bananas.  I just can?t eat them once they get brown spots on them.  They taste too sweet to me but I hate to waste bananas so either end up freezing them for smoothies or baking with them and I had a bunch of bananas screaming to be used so I decided to make a Chocolate- Marbled Banana Bread.  I knew my kids would actually eat this and it sounded good to me as well.  This is yet another Cooking Light recipe and it is a REALLY GOOD ONE.

Chocolate-Marbled Banana Bread

Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients 2  cups  all-purpose flour 3/4  teaspoon  baking soda 1/2  teaspoon  salt 1  cup  sugar 1/4  cup  butter, softened 1 1/2  cups  mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas) 1/2  cup  egg substitute 1/3  cup  plain low-fat yogurt 1/2  cup  semisweet chocolate chips Cooking spray Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.

Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Nutritional Information Calories: 183 (23% from fat) Fat: 4.7g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.2g) Protein: 3.1g

The kids loved this banana bread.  I mean what is not to like.  I LOVED it.  I had it for my dessert tonight and it was still slightly warm and moist and chocolaty.

My other new love has been a salad I have been making the past few days that I am thoroughly enjoying.  It is a mix of spinach, artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans, cabbage, carrots,dried cranberries and feta cheese.  I am not quite sure what to call it but I guess I will narrow it down to Spinach, Artichoke, Cranberry and Feta Salad. 

Spinach, Artichoke, Cranberry and Feta Salad

2 cups Spinach

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrots

3 artichoke hearts

1/4 cup garbanzo beans

1 tbsp dried cranberries

1 tbsp feta cheese

Dressed with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard and 1 tsp olive oil.

Delish!

I also squeezed in a snack this afternoon of Greek yogurt topped with Raspberries and Pomegranate Seeds and some Chopped Hazelnuts and it was simply delightful.

All in all it has been a fabulous day.  I was able to start the day off with a wet run to Mount Tabor where I did my favorite stair workout with my beloved dog and then came home and worked for a few hours before picking up the kids and heading to piano lessons.  Tomorrow will be another busy day and I am excited because I am now officially teaching Baby Boot Camp here in Portland and then will rush home for my Wellcoaches Class.  I am a bit nervous because I am actually going to be the ?client? tomorrow and am being coached.  I am looking forward to it but know that it will be tough as well. Life is always and adventure!

Time for me to get the kids cleaned up and read to so I am off for now.  Have a great evening!