Ever since i moved to China , I have been hosting a bevy of people partly because of my husband's job and partly because I love having people and treating them with an array of home cooked delicacies. There was a time when I wasn't even a decent cook , I had been preoccupied with a career and many other things that took my attention away from cooking. I quit my job before I moved to Beijing with my husband. Now i am a Stay at home mom to my lovely twin baby girls. I have a tremendous family support coming from both sets of parents and thus it gives me ample space and time to pursue things that I really like to.
Coming back to the Apple and Cinnamon muffins , I at the risk of sounding pompous would confess that it is hard to find a match to these muffins that I bake quite often very effortlessly. The credit for the recipe goes to internet (I don't remember who posted this recipe and where , however my sincere gratitude to the person who thought of such a marvellous recipe and to the internet who brought it forward for me to see). Apple and Cinnamon makes a heavenly combination , I made it a notch higher this time when i frosted it with lemon tinted cream cheese frosting , I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top and placed a glazed cherry to add not just to the looks but also to the taste of these absolutely irresistible muffins. If you aren't a fan of cream cheese or just wish to avoid the extra work that needs to be put in to get the frosting in place , let me assure you , these muffins standalone can be quite a feast !! i won't make you wait more now , here is the recipe ...
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups white sugar (you could tweak this based on how much sweetness you wish to add)
4 large eggs
1/4th cup orange juice
1 cup canola oil
3 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
For the apple sauce you will need
4-5 large apples peeled , cored and cut into small pieces
1 cup water
2 teaspoons of cinnamon (I love cinnamon so I add extra , you might want to avoid)
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of sugar
For the lemon frosting
1 cup softened cream cheese
2 teaspoons lemon juice ( could add more based on the tanginess that one desires)
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup of icing sugar
Cherries and Cinnamon sugar for more gorgeous looks
How to make the apple sauce
Heat the apples , water , cinnamon and sugar in a saucepan. Keep stirring for a while and after that let the apples cook till there is a very little crunchiness left. The water could be avoided completely , however if added ,please ensure that the end result isn't too runny. Add lemon juice when the sauce cools down .
How to put together the muffins
Sieve flour , salt , baking powder , baking soda , powdered cinnamon and nutmeg well and keep this aside.
Beat the oil and sugar well such that it forms a creamy mix.
Add the orange juice and mix well
Whisk in the eggs without overbeating to the sugar-oil-juice mix.
Fold in the flour-salt-nutmeg-cinnamon-baking powder-baking soda mix that we sieved earlier.
Finally add the apple sauce and mix well .
Grease/line 12 muffin tins and pour in the mix.
Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degree celsius and then bake for 30-40 minute at 180 degree celsius or until a skewer inserted comes clean.
How to frost
Beat the cream cheese -lemon juice - sugar - whipped cream using an electric beater till soft peaks are visible. One needs to beat for 5-6 minutes in order to achieve this.
Now use a flat bladed knife and top the muffins (make sure they are completely cooled) with the frosting . One could use the cake decorating equipment too.
Add a cherry on top and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar if you like an extra dash of cinnamon.
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