Apple Upside-Down Cake

This tasty little cake won 2nd place in the 2nd Annual Apple Bake Off at the UVic Geography Department. Yeah.

Caramel-apple topping (bottoming?):
1/2 c brown sugar
2 T margarine, melted
3 c baking apples, very thinly sliced (1-2 large)
1/2 c pecans or walnuts, chopped

Cake:
1 1/2 c unbleached white flour
3/4 c cane sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c soy milk
1/4 c oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t vanilla

Preheat over to 350F.
Oil the sides of a 9" cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Mix dry cake ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
Mix wet cake ingredients, set aside and let sit for a couple of minutes.
Combine hot melted margarine and brown sugar. Spread this caramel mixture over the bottom of the cake pan.
Arrange apples in a pretty pattern on top of caramel. Top with nuts.
Combine wet and dry cake ingredients, stirring just to mix.
Pour cake batter over apples, use a spatula to gently spread the batter evenly over the apples.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the middle.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan.

Notes on a "healthier" version:
This morning I made a somewhat healthier version of this cake for breakfast. I replaced 1 c of the white flour with whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar in the cake batter to 1/2 c. I also added an extra cup of apple slices and tried substituting water for margarine in the caramel sauce. It turned out tasty and still quite sweet, however, the caramel sauce stayed thin and ended up making the cake a little soggy in the middle.

Veggie-Kielbasas with Apples and Onions

I adapted this from a recipe in Vegetarian Times. It was very flavourful and satisfying. We served it on top of "parsley poppy-seed pasta" with "super-simple string-bean salad" on the side.

4 soy kielbasa-style sausages (we used the Tofurky brand sausages)
1 T margarine
1 T canola oil
2 apples, cored and sliced into 12 wedges each
.5 t dill
salt and pepper
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1/4 c amber beer (you could probably use water or broth instead)
3 T brown sugar
3 T balsamic vinegar

Saute apples in .5 T margarine until soft and lightly browned. When cooked, season with salt, pepper, and dill.
Meanwhile, saute onions in remaining .5 T of margarine and .5 T oil until caramelized.
Add apples, beer, vinegar, and sugar to onions.
Stir to combine.
Cook until sauce is reduced, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry sausages in remaining .5 T oil until heated through and lightly browned.
Combine sausages with onion-apple mixture.

Apple-pecan muffins

I ended up with a bag of leftover apples from my field trip to Jasper, so I made these muffins to use up some apples. I brought them into school to share, and everyone loved them. I don't think they realized they were eating whole wheat vegan muffins. I am so sneaky.

• 1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. quick cooking oats
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. soy milk
• 5 T. margarine, melted
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. diced, peeled apples
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans
  

Pre-heat oven to 400. Combine dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring just until moist (don't over mix too much!). Stir in the apples and pecans. Put in muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. This makes about 12-15 muffins.