Applesauce Muffins

Since Jonathan and I started dating, he's always talked about the applesauce muffins his mom bakes.  When I made applesauce last week, he saw that as the perfect opportunity for me to try out this muffin recipe.

He thinks they came out perfectly, but I would have made a few changes.  I think these got over baked.  We cooked the second batch for less time and they came out a lot better.  I think I would also adjust some of the seasonings.  These were heavier on allspice than I like, so I would have taken that down a little bit.  This is completely personal preference, I've never really been a fan of it.  Finally, I think these would be good with nuts mixed in or topped with granola to give them a little crunch.

Apple Sauce

This past week in my CSA, I got a ton of great fall produce, including 2 bags of apples.  I found a great applesauce recipe on smitten kitchen baby (don't laugh, it is delicious) and was excited to have so many apples sitting around to make this applesauce.  This will only save in the fridge for a week or two, but you can freeze it in ice trays or in small tupperware containers so you only have to defrost a small amount at a time.

There is not much more I can say about this applesauce.  It is so much better than the sore bought stuff, it is sugar free so it is very healthy.  Basically we have apple puree with a couple other flavorings added.  

Red Wine Cupcakes

I love wine.  I love chocolate.  I really like pairing red wine with chocolate.  Back in the fall, I decided it would be fun to make a red wine chocolate cupcake.  I know it sounds a little crazy, but if the flavors go together so well, why not try to turn them into a cupcake?  Since I don't really have a reason to bake very often (why make a whole batch of cupcakes just for myself?), I sorta forgot about this idea.  Until February, that is, when there was an episode of Cupcake Wars where they had to use wine in their cupcakes.  

So I did some research and saw that there are several red wine chocolate cupcakes floating around the internet.  For the most part they are all pretty similar, but not quite what I wanted.  I started combining the recipes and finally settled on a recipe that I really liked.  I also combined several frosting recipes to get the flavor I wanted.  I thought they tasted awesome.  You don't get a strong wine flavor (for those of you who don't like wine as much as me), but you get a light yet fudgy cupcake with an unusual zing.  And the mascarpone in the frosting really rounds out the flavor of the cupcake.  I recommend using a big, slightly spicy wine.  I have cinnamon in the frosting that compliments a spicy wine very nicely.  But it also works with a lighter red.  Just make sure to use something you like to drink, or ask the clerk at the wine store for something good and versatile in your price range.