Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Foolproof Candy Apples

Posted : October 21, 2019

Comments : 54

So, I know that most of you are probably caramel apple people.

But I mentioned during Caramel Apple Week that I am more of a Candy Apple person, but I’d never made them myself, which is sort of a shame but honestly I’m fearful of recipes requiring a thermometer.

Involving thermometers just seems kind of sciencey, which everyone knows I am allergic to, along with sweat, nature, the color orange, and television shows that are supposed to teach me stuff.

Anyways — I decided to get over the whole thermometer thing and give Candy Apples a try. I love them, but refuse to go to the Fair (I’m also allergic to livestock and carnies), so I really needed to get a handle on the situation.

What can be better than Candy Apples whenever you want?

Most of the recipes I found online involved melting Jolly Ranchers or Red Hots, which wasn’t what I was looking for. After combining a few recipes and adding a few changes of my own (and burning my hand with melted candy….not a good thing), I came up with a perfect and fool proof recipe.

And by fool proof, I mean that not only can you not mess these up, but you should not permit fools to eat them.

That would just be a shameful waste.

Here’s a cute little video I made to show you just how easy they are! You can do it!!

Foolproof Candy Apples

Ingredients

8 Granny Smith Apples, washed and dried completely, with stems removed
8 Candy Apple Sticks (much sturdier than regular skewers)
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup warm water
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon Oil
Few drops red food coloring

Instructions

Insert sticks into the top of each apple. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray heavily with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep stirring until mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. If you're unsure about the temperature of your candy, drop a bit in a class of cold water. If it hardens immediately and easily breaks in half, it's ready. If it sinks to the bottom and is pliable, it needs to cook a bit longer.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in the cinnamon oil and red food coloring. CAREFULLY dip apples in the coating and place on lined baking sheet to harden.

[donotprint]You can purchase Candy Apple Sticks HERE

You can purchase Cinnamon Oil HERE

You can purchase a candy thermometer HERE

The coating on these is perfect — not too thick or hard to bite into, with just the right amount of cinnamon.

I hope you love them!!

Enjoy and have a happy Monday!![/donotprint]

Pumpkin Churro Cake -- layers of moist pumpkin cake dipped in melted butter and coated in cinnamon sugar.

Pumpkin Churro Layer Cake

Posted : September 27, 2019

Posted By : Cookbook Queen

Tags : Cake, Frosting

Comments : 59

This Pumpkin Churro Layer Cake is a taste of the carnival in Fall form! Layers of moist pumpkin cake are dipped in melted butter, coated in cinnamon sugar and sandwiched between layers of cream cheese frosting.

I want to start off by apologizing for this cake.

Mainly I want to apologize to your butt. And maybe your hips or thighs? Because none of them stand a chance.

Sorry friends, just speaking the truth into your lives. This cake is a legit life changer. And a butt changer.

Wait, that sounded weird. You know what I mean.

You know those desserts where after you make it, you can’t stop thinking about when you’re going to get to eat it? Like a weird fatal attraction to a dessert?

That happens when you make this cake. You make it and then you are just dying inside until it’s time to cut into it. Because once it’s been cut into, it ain’t no thang to shave off a hunk for lunch the next day.

Also, can we talk about why there is such a stigma attached to serving a partially eaten cake for dessert? Who cares if a piece is missing, right? Can we just write a new set of rules that makes it okay to eat a piece of cake prior to serving it to everyone else?

I mean, it’s pumpkin cake dipped in melted butter and cinnamon sugar – if there is a way you can say no to this, please come over and contend with my toddler because you obviously possess superhuman mental strength. So just eat it. Don’t wait on anyone else. Matter of fact, don’t even share it. Sharing is for losers, that’s what I always say.

And by always, I mean never. I have two kids, so I have literally shared my uterus twice. They don’t even blink when it comes to my dessert — Lucy been known to shove her entire hand into a glass of my iced tea, so.

To make this cake you just whip up three layers of the best pumpkin cake ever, dip it in melted Challenge Butter, and then coat each layer in cinnamon sugar. The top, bottom, sides…all of it.

I am a Challenge Butter Ambassador, which I mention every time I get. Because hello, Butter Ambassador. I feel like I should have some kind of embassy or maybe immunity to the law, but really I just get to use the most incredible butter ever and then talk about it, which is even better.

Challenge Butter is truly the best tasting butter I’ve tried AND it’s from California cows NOT treated with the growth horomont rBST. Raising two kiddos I try to avoid any food from animals treated with hormones, so this is perfect for us!

Challenge also makes the creamiest cream cheese, which I used in the fluffy layers of cream cheese frosting. I highly recommend it!

Pumpkin Churro Layer Cake

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Yield: 3 layer 8 inch round cake

Ingredients

Cake Batter:
3 cups canned pumpkin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Churro Coating:
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) salted Challenge Butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Frosting:
2 sticks salted Challenge Butter, softened slightly
8 oz Challenge Cream Cheese, softened slightly
3 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour 3 8 or 9 inch cake pans and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In the bowl of your mixer, mix pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs on medium speed until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on medium until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter into the three pans and bake for about 45 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched in the center. Remove to wire racks and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.
Once cakes are cooled to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours, or overnight if possible. This will allow the cakes to firm up enough to stand up to being dipped in melted butter.
Once cakes are firm and chilled, use a serrated knife to cut off any domed tops and level them. Combine sugar and cinnamon and spread on a large plate. Brush cakes with melted butter and then dip in cinnamon sugar, coating the sides, tops and bottoms. Place cakes on individual plates while you work on the others.
Prepare frosting:
In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, milk and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, blending until just barely mixed in. Increase mixer speed to high, beating for about a minute until fluffy and smooth.
Assemble and frost cake, leaving edges bare. Top with leftover cinnamon sugar, if desired.

Notes

(Prep does not include chilling time) **Cake batter adapted from Taste of Home

Enjoy! I think you’ll love this cake!

***Sponsored posts make running this website financially possible, and I am SO grateful to have opportunities to team up with brands I love and use in my day to day life. Challenge Dairy is one of those companies! I have been compensated for this post, but all thoughts and opinions are 157% my own.