An art retreat is a lot like summer camp, only without the hospital corners, color war and lights out after taps.
As I write this, I’m in Temecula at the Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center operated by the Sisters of the Company of Mary, where I’m spending the week making art with 17 very talented friends.
Fortunately, some of these artists also like to bake, and our snack table groans with all manner of temptations. This year’s most popular item was Rose Mary Jameson’s apple cake, which screams fall with its warm spices and deep apple flavor, a cake that can take you from Halloween, through Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, I had to get the recipe.
With a few changes, Rose Mary converted King Arthur’s recipe to gluten-free, and no one could tell the difference.
“Four, five years ago I was diagnosed with ischemic colitis,” Jameson explained. “The doctor wanted to give me medications, but I asked if a diet would fix it. His first response was, ‘No dairy, no flour.’ It’s challenging.
“You have to read every label, learn the different chemical words they use to hide flour,” she said. “In restaurants the gravies and sauces have wheat. Even French fries. They look crispy, because they’re dredged in flour. But making these changes really worked. I felt much better right away. I find it easy to make better choices, because it’s just not worth the pain.”
Jameson’s husband does most of the shopping.
“He goes on hunts and researches for me. Canyon Bakehouse makes some of the best tasting gluten-free breads I’ve had. Schatt’s is another really good brand, and Live Free,” she said. “That’s the hardest thing, to find is a bread that doesn’t have a weird aftertaste. Why waste the calories if it doesn’t taste good?
“So Delicious brand non-dairy ice cream is really good,” she added. “I like almond milk, coconut milk and oat milk especially. Hard cheese seems to be okay. I always add an egg to the prepackaged gluten-free cake mixes, which tend to be dry, or I’ll add a little more applesauce or liquid, water or oil. And I watch the time.”
For her apple cake, Jameson substituted Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour, one to one.
“I made the rest of it just according to this recipe. In the future I might add one egg so it sticks together and becomes a little more cake-like,” she said. “The frosting is awesome. I substituted almond milk for the regular milk. You can also use the cider.”
Boiled cider, as the name implies, is sweet apple cider that has been boiled down to roughly an eight-to-one concentration. It is thick and syrupy and the secret ingredient for amping up that real apple taste. You can find it on line or at specialty markets.
Fullerton’s Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook.” Her website is cookingjewish.com.
OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR FROSTING
Ingredients:
- 2 1/3 cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice or 1 teaspoon cinnamon +1/4 teaspoon each ginger and nutmeg
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups peeled, cored, finely chopped apple (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch), about 1 1/3 pounds whole apples
- 2 tablespoons boiled cider, optional
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and diced
Frosting:
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup milk or 2 tablespoons milk +2 tablespoons boiled cider
- 2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 3/4 teaspoon King Arthur pure vanilla extract
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13 pan or two 8-inch round pans.
2. Mix all cake ingredients except apples and nuts in large bowl. As soon as mixture comes together and becomes pretty uniformly crumbly, stop mixing; you don’t want a cohesive mass.
3. Add apples, boiled cider and nuts; mix until apples release some juice and stiff mixture becomes a thick, creamy batter, between cookie dough and brownie batter consistency. Don’t worry if mixture doesn’t immediately loosen up; this will take about 3 minutes at low speed. Spread batter in prepared pan(s), smoothing it with your wet fingers.
4. Bake cake 45 minutes for 9-by-13 pan or 38 minutes for two 8-inch round pans. A toothpick or paring knife inserted into center should come out clean, or with just a few wet crumbs clinging to it. Temperature at center of cake will be about 205 degrees. Remove cake from oven and place on rack to cool a bit while you make frosting.
5. Frosting: Sift confectioners’ sugar into bowl or onto piece of parchment or wax paper; set aside. (This guarantees lump-free frosting.)
6. Melt butter in medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring, until sugar starts to melt and mixture becomes fairly smooth. While you may still notice a bit of grittiness from sugar, you shouldn’t see any melted butter puddled atop sugar. Add milk and boiled cider, if using, and bring to a boil. Remove syrup from heat and pour into medium-sized mixing bowl (large enough to accommodate confectioners’ sugar). Let syrup cool in bowl 10 minutes.
7. Poor confections’ sugar into warm syrup in bowl, then add vanilla. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Work fast; frosting stiffens up quickly as it cools.
8. Pour warm frosting onto cake, spreading over entire surface. Cut cake, either warm or at room temperature, into slices to serve. Store cake, covered, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
