Fruit-Streusel Coffee Cake and Applesauce

Well, I have to get as many posts about Fall in as I possibly can! I love Fall, and one of my favorite things to do in the Fall is cook and bake. I love all the things that are in season, decorating my house, and the smells that often are brewing in my kitchen, especially pumpkin!!
This year, I miss having an apple orchard that is close that we can go to and get tons of apples to bake with! So I will have to make do with store-bought apples that are in season, and still taste good. I have made this recipe for applesauce for the past few years, and continue to make it because I love it! I love the strong taste of cloves in this recipe! And it makes my kitchen smell so yummy! In fact, I love those Fall smells so much that I boil a pot of water with different spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg...you get the picture! Smells like you are making a pumpkin pie!!
Anyways...here is the recipe for the Applesauce. You will probably want to double or triple the recipe, as one batch doesn't make that much.

Applesauce
Allrecipes.com

6 cups of Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup white sugar

1. In a 2 Quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the apples, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar, and simmer 5 more minutes.
2. Add to a blender to get desired consistency.



Really, it takes the longest to peel, core, and chop the apples. Once you have that done, it takes mere minutes to whip up this homemade applesauce!!

Now, onto the yummy Fruit-Streusel Coffee Cake! So great for a brunch or afternoon coffee with a friend. Make it for a friend, and then warm up the leftovers the next morning for breakfast!!


Fruit-Streusel Coffee Cake
The All-New Good Housekeeping Cook Book

Streusel Topping
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 Tbs. cold butter or margarine, cut into pieces

Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds ripe pears, apples or peaches, peeled and thinly sliced; or nectarines or plums, not peeled, thinly sliced (3 cups); or fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (4 cups); or 1 pint blueberries

1. Prepare topping: In medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. With fingertips, blend flour mixture and butter until mixture is like course crumbs.
2. Prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9 baking pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In cup, combine milk and vanilla. With mixer at low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl.
5. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Arrange fruit slices on top, overlapping them slightly. Evenly sprinkle steusel topping over fruit.
6. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes to serve warm, or cool completely in pan to serve later. Makes 15 servings.

This is such a delicious variation on the traditional coffee cake. I love that I got to use some Fall fruit on top, which made it extra yummy! Hope you enjoy these wonderful Fall recipes, and shoot some my way if there are some I just have to try!!!