Apple season brings on the urge to do some baking

It is apple season, and everywhere you look there are apple recipes galore. The grocery store has recipes available using apples, friends are sending me recipes via email and Facebook, and I can hardly wait to give them all a try. All of these new apple options are putting me into the mood to bake. During the previous weeks of hot weather, I have not baked anything, so I am ready.

I will honor apple season today by passing along a few of those can't-wait-to-try recipes and hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the bounty of the season.

Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 cups Granny Smith apples, chopped into small pieces
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup pecans roughly chopped

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup golden brown sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine apples and sugar. Stir in oil, eggs and vanilla. In another mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the flour mixture to the apple mixture. Add milk and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Add chopped pecans.

Pour into prepared 9x13-inch pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add butter and continue to beat until smooth, scraping down sides when needed. Add vanilla and brown sugar. Beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy and the sugar has dissolved. Spread evenly on top of the cake. Refrigerate after frosting. Serves: 12

Apple Dumpling Cobbler

• 3 cups apples, cored, peeled, and chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Dough for one 9-inch pie crust
• 1 teaspoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place apples into a single layer in the bottom of a 8x11-inch casserole dish or pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, 2 tablespoons butter and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, stirring as the butter melts. Boil for 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken a little. Pour over the apples. On a floured surface, roll out the dough large enough with a 1/8-inch thickness to cover the dish or pan. Place over the pan and seal.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Brush over the dough then sprinkle on the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Make 3 slits into the dough to let steam escape. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the apple mixture is bubbling. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving with ice cream. Serves: 8-12

Best Ever Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

These ooey-gooey rolls are a perfect combination of yeast rolls, caramel and apples.

For the dough:

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, use the fast acting kind
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 4 1/2-5 cups all purpose unbleached flour

For the apple filling:

• 4 medium Granny Smith apples
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 11-ounce package caramels
• 1 cup prepared caramel sauce

For the frosting:

• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup prepared caramel sauce, plus more for drizzling

Making the dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour in water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Stir and proof 5 minutes. Once mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in remaining sugar and salt. Stir on low for 15 to 20 seconds. In a small bowl, measure buttermilk, oil and egg. Whisk ingredients together until egg is incorporated to other two ingredients. Pour contents into the water and yeast mixture. Stir another 20 seconds in the mixer. Pour 2 cups of flour into mixer and stir on low until incorporated. Sprinkle flour in by 1/4-cup increments until dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl. Dough should be sticky, but not sticky enough to stick to your hands when touched. Once it has reached this stage, turn mixer on and knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl, grease and replace back into same mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Rise 1-2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.

Preparing filling

To make the apple filling, peel, core and dice Granny Smith apples. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Melt butter, then add apples, sugar and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Unwrap entire bag of caramels and cut each piece into quarters.

Assembling rolls:

Once dough has doubled in size, punch down and roll out to be 24x16-inch rectangle. Spread caramel sauce (see note) over entire surface of dough, leaving a 1-2-inch strip at the top blank. Spread cooked apples** and caramel pieces over the caramel sauce evenly. Roll up lengthwise, ending with the blank strip of dough underneath the roll. Cut into 12 even, very large rolls and place into greased parchment paper-lined baking pans. Cover gently with plastic wrap and rise another hour or two to double in size. Bake rolls at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they have browned and are cooked thoroughly.

While rolls are baking, make the frosting. Simply whip all ingredients together until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl and whip again for 1-2 minutes.

Once rolls come out of oven, cool 5 minutes, then smother generously with frosting, then drizzle with caramel sauce. Best if served warm.

* If you purchased a runny caramel sauce, start by spreading 1/2 cup over the dough, adding more as needed. If the sauce is thick, you may need to use more.

If your apples gave off a lot of liquid during cooking, do your best to spoon on the apples with minimal liquid.

Mom's Fresh Apple Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup apple juice or milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecans, halves, separated

Icing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees; grease and flour a Bundt pan. In a large bowl, toss apples with flour to coat. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. If using nuts, break the pecan halves into pieces and add to the batter. Save about 10 pecan halves for garnish.

If you don't have a Bundt pan, you can use two loaf pans. Pour the mixture into prepared pan; make sure to spread the mixture evenly. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan 15 minutes before removing to serving plate. When cake is completely cool, drizzle with icing and garnish with pecan halves.

To prepare icing, place powdered sugar, vanilla and milk in a bowl and mix together until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add milk one teaspoon at a time until the mixture reaches desired consistency. Recipe yields: 1 Bundt cake or 2 loaves

Salted Caramel Apple Crumble

For the caramel sauce:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the crumble:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons softened butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the apples:

n 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

n 2 tablespoons lemon juice

n 2 tablespoons butter

n 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the caramel sauce:

Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat to melt sugar. Continue cooking and swirling sugar until it turns amber in color. Whisk in sea salt and heavy cream. Mixture will briefly bubble up violently. Continue whisking until sauce is smooth in consistency. Stir in butter and vanilla. Set aside.

For the crumble:

Combine all ingredients using a stand mixer. Mixture will be crumbly, but stay together when squeezed. Set aside.

Prepare apples and toss in lemon juice. Cook apples in a large cast iron skillet over medium low heat in butter to draw out moisture. Sprinkle with salt to draw out all the moisture possible. Drain apples and place back into skillet. This process should take about 5 to 7 minutes of cooking. Pour 3/4 of prepared caramel sauce into the apples and stir gently. Top with the crumble topping. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve with remaining caramel sauce.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.