So this is a much delayed post…but as you’ll soon learn, it’s been a busy past few weeks for us! Now how’s that for a cliffhanger? Unless you’re know us well, then you obviously know what I’m hinting at 🙂
A few weekends ago we spent an afternoon boating on Lake Lanier. One of our friends found an awesome deal on Groupon for a large group to spend several hours on the water, wake-boarding and just soaking up the last few precious rays of the summer sun. I do no such thing as wake-board, but I definitely enjoyed the latter. The weather was perfect with barely a cloud in the sky. Even though it’ll stay relatively warm in Atlanta for another few weeks, it really was one of our final “hurrah’s” of the summer season.
The following afternoon we spent strolling the streets–literally–around Midtown. Last May, the city put on an event called Atlanta Streets Alive, closing down Peachtree Street to traffic and letting people walk freely while checking out storefronts and pop-up events. Drew and I had so much fun last time (climbing a rock wall was involved) that we were excited to find out they were bringing it back again so soon. The weather was perfect and we spent over 2 hours walking several miles, exploring stores, running into friends and soaking up the sun. We never doubted how wonderful it is to live in Midtown, right in the heart of everything, but it’s events like this that make me love Atlanta even more.
After spending several hours outside, where the temperature neared 90, we were quite grateful to be back in the AC. The temperature has been slowly dropping since, and I can’t help but be lulled into the Fall season when my Pinterest feed is being overrun by Halloween decor and the return of Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte. So, true to form, I made a breakfast cake that has Fall written all over it. I want to eat this while sitting on the back of a hay ride, snuggled in a sweater and watching the leaves change colors. Also, the accompanying frosting is not optional.
Apple Spice Breakfast Cake with Caramel Frosting
Makes 1 bundt cake or 2 medium-size loaves
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 container vanilla or plain yogurt
3/4 cup apple butter or applesauce
1 large egg
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large overripe banana, smashed
1 3/4 cup apples, chopped
1 tsp each of the following spices: cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
For the frosting:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease bundt or loaf pans. In a large bowl, stir together yogurt, apple butter or applesauce, egg, vanilla and sugars until combined. Add in banana, apples and spices. Slowly mix in flours and baking soda and stir until just combined, but be careful not to overmix. Pour into pan(s) and bake 40 min. or until inserted knife comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Allow to boil for one minute, add in brown sugar, and allow to boil for another 2 minutes while stirring continuously. Remove from heat, stir in milk and vanilla. Sift in powdered sugar, whisking until frosting becomes thick. Allow to thicken about 5-10 minutes before pouring over cooled cake.
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