Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

      I'm getting a pretty late start tonight but that's allowed now and then...lol... So before I start telling you about the baked apples I'd like to say a few things about the pineapple upside down cake.   Like I said last night It was very good while it was still warm.  Today my brother in law and a friend of the family told me they thought it tasted delicious but that the cake was kinda dense, the flavor was there just not the texture.  So in my book I have not mastered that one yet... I also found out yesterday that my oven was off center and that my was why my cake come out slightly lopsided, but it's all fixed now.... Okay enough already, on to the apples....

       

      My husband and I where just relaxing tonight watching a little t.v. and getting ready to watch a movie.  Me of course at the time was still undecided on what to bake tonight.  I thought about banana bread but it was already at this point 11 p.m.  So my husband recommended BAKED APPLES with VANILLA SAUCE.  He knew I had been in a lot of pain lately and especially today with my back so we figured it was simple, fast and easy...

what you will need:

2 apples cored 

1 stick of butter 

water to coat bottom of dish 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/3 cup of sugar divided in half  (half over apple half in melted butter)

1/3 cup of brown sugar divided in half (half over apple half in melted butter)

1/4teaspoon vanilla

                                         BAKED APPLES

          1.   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To melted butter add cinnamon half of the sugar and half of the brown sugar, vanilla and whisk it together.

         2.     Add a little bit of water to bottom of glass baking dish to prevent burning then place apples in dish, sprinkle the remaining sugar and brown sugar over top the apples and then pour mixture in step 1 over the apples make sure to let it get in the center of the apples.  Cover with foil for 15 minutes then take foil off bast and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

                                          VANILLA SAUCE

1 1/2 confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup cream

3 light dashes of cinnamon 

little flour ( just for thickness)

                 1.       In a medium saucepan add butter, cream, vanilla confectioners sugar, sugar, and cinnamon bring to a light boil while whisking the entire time, remove from heat, add a little flour just for thickness

 (cornstarch works best if you have it, i just so happen to have run out so i improvised)lol...

        So that was absolutely sinful I tell you and the vanilla sauce was a perfect added touch to this dessert.  Thank you to my wonderful husband for recommending this delectable treat for us all to enjoy.  I know my posts are usually a bit longer but it is now pretty late and my eyes are starting to win the war. So to those of you still awake at 3 a.m. Good night fellow night owls and to the rest of you hope your dreams are filled with joy and creativity!!!!!     

         Until tomorrow, be safe, healthy and with the ones you love most in this world!!!!!!!!

         

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

   Okay, so everyone loved the sugar-free cheesecake and I really don't like to give myself compliments but it was very very good.. and not piece of it was left..lol.  Anyway on to other things..
    
  Today was a lazy day for me. I feel like a vampire came in and sucked the life out of me..lol.. But in my family when you say your gonna do something you have to follow through, if not everyone will playfully and with love of course, break your stones... So after my parents made an amazing pot roast for dinner my husband started and then my brother-in-law started to make little funny comments about how great that pineapple upside down cake tastes, lol. After that the rest of the family started in on me, so at about 7p.m. I went to the kitchen in preparation of the cake....

        While I was in the kitchen I looked at the fruit bowl sitting on my counter top, an idea jumped into my head as I glared upon an orange. What if I put an orange in my Pineapple Upside Down Cake . So after about ten minutes and a whole lot of thought I said what the heck, whats the worst that could happen...lol...

         Usually, when I am baking I am running around the kitchen like crazy measuring things while I am adding them to the mixing bowl. Today I tried things a little differently... I pre-measured ingredients before I started to make things a little easier for myself tonight.  What a blessing that turned out to be and made for an easy clean up as well. I think I'll be remembering that one...

WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1/4 cup butter 
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
9 slices pineapple 
1 orange (optional)
9 jarred cherries without stem (drained
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk 
1 egg
***NOTE : If you do use the orange make sure to get as much of the rime off of it as possible before you add it, for this will make the cake very bitter.


    1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees melt butter in oven in 9 inch pan, (don't over heat the butter).  Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter evenly over the whole pan. Arrange pineapple slices and orange slices over the brown sugar butter mix and place cherry in center of pineapples.

    2.   In medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and egg on low scraping bowl constantly for 30 seconds.. Beat on high for about 2-3 minutes scraping sides occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple, orange and cherries

  3. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. When you take it out  immediately place a heatproof plate upside down over pan and turn plate and pan over.  Leave pan over cake  a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over....Serve warm!

  
    No sooner did I have this magnificent cake plated there was the love of my life standing behind me with a look of a child. He was like being a big silly goof waiting for it to cool down enough for us to cut into. Meanwhile, the whole time him and my dad are play arguing over which one was going to eat it all.  After it cooled down enough we sat down and enjoyed a nice warm piece of Orange Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  Everyone thought that it was very very good... My husband said it brought him back to when he was a kid and his grandmother used to make all the time....

     Until tomorrow be safe, happy and well!
Thanks for reading

SUGAR~FREE CHEESECAKE

     Hello all, hope everyone had a good day. It snowed all day again here, it snows just about everyday lately...lol...  Okay, so I know I said I would be making a PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE first, but instead decided to make my mom something really yummy she has been asking for instead.  

    My mother is type 2  diabetic and has been now for about 7 years.  She has however always had a sweet tooth like the rest of us , with that being said, we don't expect her 

to live a bland and boring life.  So today after her asking me for a few days to make it my father went to the market to get the ingredients for a SUGAR-FREE CHEESECAKE.  This is a really great dessert that the entire family can enjoy, and the best part is your kids won't be bouncing off the walls from all the sugar...lol...  

     The greatest part is if you already have a cheesecake recipe for instance, say one that's been passed down from generation to generation or just one you got out of a book that you absolutely love you can still use it just substitute the sugar with splenda.     


    Okay so what you will need:


    1.   splenda 
    2.   butter
    3.   graham crackers  
    4.   3 eggs 
    5.   1 pound cream cheese
    6.   1 teaspoon vanilla 
    7.   2 cups sour cream 


                                                         CRUST
                                        2 Tablespoons Splenda
                                        3 Tablespoons melted butter
                                        1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 
   
TIPS FOR THE DAY                                     
*******I found that putting the graham crackers in a plastic lock bag and running a rolling pin up and down was super easy in making graham cracker crumbs.  Also one package of graham crackers out of the box is about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.  If that makes it any easier for you.


                                                        FILLING
                          1 pound cream cheese (softened)
                                       1 cup Splenda 
                                       1 teaspoon vanilla 
                                       3 eggs 
                                       2 cups sour cream 


    Preheat oven to 375 degrees


        Make your crust by simply mixing the above crust ingredients together with a spoon and light press into 9 inch spring form pan, bake for 10 minutes than remove from oven...


        Mix cream cheese, splenda, vanilla and sour cream, beat till fluffy and lump free.  Then you add the eggs one at a time while mixing, continue mixing until smooth.  
   
        Pour batter into spring form pan with the prepared crust and gently place on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit until cool, refrigerate overnight..... 


        After I was ready to serve this delicious cheesecake to my amazing family I decorated it with two thin slices of oranges in the center to make it look like a star shape 


        This is just my way of doing it but, like I said before you can use any cheesecake recipe just substitute the sugar for splenda.... 


        Okay well I hope you all enjoy your sugar free cheesecake, I know we will... I promise next we will be making the PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE. 


Until tomorrow, be safe and enjoy!!!!!

This ones for you Mom!!!!!!