Tag Archives: homesteading

Rustic Reuben with Righteous Rye and Robust Russian Dressing

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reuban from scratch b nBursting with flavor, this satisfying from-scratch version of an East Coast classic was delicious to the last caraway seed!

Jack suggested we make reuben sandwiches with the gorgeous purple kraut I’d just created. For this menu request, I would need my freshly baked righteous rye bread, corned beef, Russian dressing (see below), Swiss cheese, and butter. I already had all these items on hand except for the corned beef, and since this year the majority of the protein in our freezers is fish, that was going to be a challenge.

I wrinkled up my nose at Jack’s suggestion that we walk to the Native Store to see if they had any canned corned beef. Lo and behold, they did. “Premium” canned corned beef – it even had a little key on the side with which to open the can. This was new to me. I have had canned tuna and chicken, but neither of those items came with a key. I stared at this can turning it over and over to try and figure out how to open the darn thing. Thanks to YouTube, I now know how to open a can of corned beef!

Fortunately the homemade elements of this reuben added enough to the premium canned corned beef to make it a terrific, bush-style sandwich. Had this sandwich been made with homemade corned beef, or corned caribou, it would have been fit for Food and Wine magazine! Sounds like I have a new goal as soon as I can trade for caribou (or wild mountain goat, Bixlers, if you’re reading this)!

For this phenomenal reuben sandwich you need:

  • 2 thick slices of rye bread
  • Russian dressing
  • corned beef
  • sauerkraut
  • swiss cheese
  • butter or olive oil

Instructions

  1. Generously spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.
  2. On the opposite side of bread, generously spread Russian dressing.
  3. Place enough corned beef to cover one piece of bread.
  4. Add a layer of Swiss cheese.
  5. Add a layer of sauerkraut.
  6. Cover sandwich with second piece of bread.
  7. Place sandwich in heavy skillet on stovetop over medium heat.
  8. Press sandwich down while cooking, about 5 minutes on one side.
  9. Flip sandwich.
  10. Press sandwich down on second side, and cook for another 5 minutes. Cheese should be melting out of the sandwich.
  11. Slice sandwich diagonally and serve with a dill pickle.

The Russian dressing is taken directly from Zingerman’s deli recipe which was posted on Food Network’s website. The only adaptations I made were to use my own homemade mayonnaise and to omit parsley.

Russian Dressing

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • generous 1/4 cup chili sauce
  • 2 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 1/2 tbsp minced shallots
  • 1 1/2 tbsp minced dill pickle
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp grated horseradish
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

DIY Small Batch Purple Sauerkraut

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sauerkraut diy_n

To make this beautiful purple kraut, you need only a few days of fermenting time and items you already have in your kitchen.

Every year I pick one thing I want to learn to make and force the issue by removing it from our annual shopping list. Last summer, a friend had us taste her homemade kraut infused with locally picked highbush cranberries, which grow in Alaska. It was delicious. Her quick directions gave me confidence that I could easily make sauerkraut, too.

The purpose of lacto-fermenting vegetables is to store the summer harvest so that vegetables can be enjoyed throughout the year. Since I had only one head of cabbage which weighed a pound-and-a-half,  I turned to small batch food preservation methods. Credit for the following directions goes to a blog called The Kitchn where the author posts all sorts of information about lacto-fermentation, photos, and step-by-step directions.

Our first menu with the finished kraut was a knock-your-socks-off reuben. We’ll post that  recipe in an upcoming article.

DIY Small Batch Purple Sauerkraut

Ingredients

  • 1 small head purple cabbage (about 1.5 lbs.)
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tbsp dried juniper berries

Directions

  1. Gather materials you will need to process kraut: 2 quart container, cutting board, chef’s knife, gallon Ziploc bag, large mixing bowl, and lidded quart container for final product.
  2. Slice cabbage into ribbons. Discard core.
  3. Place cabbage ribbons into large mixing bowl. Sprinkle salt all over cabbage.
  4. Knead, massage, and squeeze salt into cabbage, until cabbage begins to become shiny and loses liquid. This will take about 10 minutes.
  5. Mix in caraway seeds and juniper berries.
  6. Pack mixture into 2 quart container. Pour any liquid from mixing bowl into container, too.
  7. Fill Ziploc bag with water and set inside 2 quart container to weigh down and cover cabbage.
  8. Press down cabbage every few hours. This will cause air to come to the surface.
  9. If there is not enough liquid to cover the cabbage in 24 hours, add 1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp salt.
  10. Keep the container out of light and at a temperature of 65 – 75 degrees F.
  11. Allow to ferment from 3 – 10 days. Begin tasting at 3 days. Mine tasted just right at 3 days. The longer you leave it, the more sour it will be.
  12. Put finished sauerkraut in a 1 quart container and store in the refrigerator. It should keep for several months.

Vanilla Flan with Traditional Caramel Sauce

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Enjoy this vanilla custard, caramel-topped dish with a freshly brewed cup of coffee or tea to complete a memorable dinner with friends.

Crème caramel (flan) and crème brûlée are classic oven-baked custards. We’ve both loved flan from the first taste. The soft, custardy texture is very satisfying and the way the caramel sauce  drizzles down the side of this dessert when you invert it is just plain fun. When I was in my twenties, I made flan the instant way – squeeze the packet of caramel on the bottom of a dish and pour in the custard. Jack discovered flan in Japan, where it is commonly sold in convenience stores as a complete, packaged snack and less frequently in coffee shops.

After learning to make flan authentically – preparing stovetop caramel from scratch and baking the dessert in a water bath – there is no turning back. The vanilla flavor in this recipe is intense, thanks to the addition of vanilla paste, and the caramel was sweet with just a hint of bitterness just as my Culinary Institute of America teacher said it should. Many flavors could be substituted for the vanilla; try orange, chocolate, cinnamon, or chai for an equally excellent dessert.

Vanilla Flan with Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup and 1/3 cup granulated sugar, separated
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp vanilla paste, or 1 vanilla bean, split
  • 3 eggs

Instructions

  1. Place 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water in a pot. Gently stir to blend.
  2. Bring mixture to a boil without stirring, putting a lid on pan so that moisture from boiling syrup will wash down sides.
  3. Let mixture continue to boil until it starts to turn a light brown color.
  4. Take pan off heat and allow mixture to cool until it has a honey-like consistency.
  5. Pour caramel into 4 small ramekins. Swirl caramel around so it covers the bottoms of the ramekins. Set aside.
  6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
  7. Warm milk, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla on stovetop.
  8. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Pour warm milk mixture into eggs, whisking continuously. Add cream and continue to whisk until thoroughly mixed.
  9. Pour milk mixture into prepared ramekins.
  10. Place ramekins in a larger pan, for example a roasting pan, and fill the roasting pan until water reaches halfway up the ramekins.
  11. Bake custards in oven for 30 – 40 minutes.
  12. Custards will be done when there is a small wiggle in the custard. Allow ramekins to cool off and wipe them dry. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, or overnight.
  13. To present the dessert, run a small knife around the edges of the ramekins. Place a serving plate on top of the ramekin. Flip the dish and give it a quick jerk in order to remove the flan from the ramekin. The caramel should now be on top and will drizzle over sides to plate.

Really Righteous Rye for Reubens

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Rye bread_nWith a golden-brown crust and a soft inside, this flavorful combination of rye flour and caraway seeds is the perfect loaf to be sliced thick for home-made reuben sandwiches. 

One of our favorite sandwiches is an East Coast style reuben with the rye sliced thick and everything piled high. Up here in the Arctic, the only way to get a sandwich like that is to make it ourselves. So, based on several recipes and my own calculations, I created a rye bread recipe for my Zojirushi “dough machine.” After four years of fairly heavy use (we bake all our own breads), this built-like-a-tank bread machine is still going strong. After it had done its magic, I kneaded the dough once more by hand and shaped it into an oval for one last rise.

I gave the dough two quick slashes, brushed it with egg, popped it in the oven and 35 minutes later our kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of freshly baked rye bread – the final ingredient for our “up-town” Arctic lunch of hot tomato soup and reubens! Our recipe for DIY sauerkraut to follow.

Bread Machine Rye Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 1 tbsp caraway seeds (a few more for the top)
  • 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1  1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg (to brush the top of the loaf)

Directions

  1. Place all items except the last egg in the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
  2. Set machine to dough setting.
  3. Start machine.
  4. Remove dough from machine and place onto lightly floured board. Knead dough a few times and shape into ball.
  5. Place dough ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until almost doubled in size.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  7. Slash a big X on top of loaf.
  8. Brush loaf with egg and sprinkle a few more caraway seeds on top of loaf.
  9. Bake for 35 minutes. Finished loaf should should have a golden brown crust and sound hollow when tapped.

Lattice Top Apple Pie with Baked-On Cinnamon Sauce

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apple pie lattice top n

Cinnamon sauce baked into the lattice-top crust makes this apple pie irresistible. The only debate was whether to enjoy it with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese or a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream. 

Last week’s baking lesson was all about baking with butter: buttery cranberry scones, fluffy butter biscuits, and two kinds of pie – lemon meringue and a lattice-topped apple. After learning how to create the lattice top, which was surprisingly easy, we took a basic apple filling and poured the liquid you would normally mix into the apples over the top of the pie, allowing the flavors to bake into the lattice and surround the apples inside. This apple pie was served hot out of the oven to friends with cinnamon vanilla ice cream as fortification against a chilly day north of the Arctic Circle.

Apple Pie with Baked-on Cinnamon Sauce

Ingredients

  • 5 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • pastry crust for 9-inch double crust pie

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  2. Toss apples in lemon juice. Set aside.
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
  4. Stir in flour to form a paste.
  5. Add water, granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
  6. Place the bottom crust in your pan.
  7. Fill with apples, mounded slightly.
  8. Cover with a lattice work crust.
  9. Gently pour the sugar and butter mixture over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
  10. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
  11. Let cool slightly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

Chai Crème Brûlée for Two

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chai creme brulee_n

Easy to create, this crème brûlée features a rich custard flavored with vanilla and chai tea and is sealed with a crunchy caramelized top.

We give careful thought before adding any new item to our kitchen. Does the tool merit the space it will take up in Bandon’s galley or in the kitchen of our Arctic home? Will it be durable? Is it practical?

For the past few years, both of us have been eyeing a butane torch – the perfect niche tool for toasting a couple of  homemade marshmallows, singeing  meringue pie tips, and of course, for creating the perfect crème brûlée.

For most people, the addition of an item such as a kitchen torch means driving to a local store and picking one out along with the necessary fuel. For us, getting a canister of butane out to bush Alaska means purchasing a haz-mat certificate and having the item sent by cargo flight out here because the post office doesn’t ship hazardous materials via airplane.

Last night, the torch came out of the box, was fueled up, and put into service to finish a dessert that we and our guests couldn’t get enough of – chai crème brûlée. For this recipe, we began with a traditional crème brûlée custard recipe and infused it with the mildly spicy, sweet flavors of loose leaf chai tea and vanilla paste.  The resulting dessert was more complex and flavorful than typical crème brûlées. Using our new torch so that our guests and we could caramelize the tops of the custard just before serving, this turned out to be the best crème brûlée we and our guests had ever had.

Chai Creme Brulee for Two

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • tiny pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
  • 1 tbsp loose chai tea
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar for topping

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the slightly lower than center position.
  2. Whisk milk, heavy whipping cream, sugar, salt, vanilla paste and chai tea in a medium pot over medium heat. Whisk until mixture steams and almost boils. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
  3. Strain cream mixture to remove tea leaves.
  4. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Stir in cream mixture to eggs one tablespoon at a time until the egg mixture is warmed. Once mixture is warmed, increase addition of cream mixture to 1/4 cup at a time. This will prevent eggs from cooking and scrambling.
  5. Pour mixture into two 4-ounce ramekins.
  6. Set ramekins in a baking dish. Pour enough hot water to reach halfway up the ramekins.
  7. Bake uncovered in preheated oven until desserts are softly set, about 45 minutes. The centers will jiggle.
  8. Remove baking dish with ramekins from oven and let desserts come to room temperature while in water bath on counter.
  9. Chill ramekins in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
  10. Right before serving, sprinkle 1 teaspoon granulated sugar evenly on each dessert.
  11. Use a kitchen torch to slightly brown and caramelize the granulated sugar. Let cool for ten minutes and serve.

Waste Not Want Not Potato Bread

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potato bread b n

We don’t normally buy instant mashed potatoes, but when friends offered us a couple packets at the end of their Alaska camping trip last summer, we came up with a good use for them.

The packets of instant mashed red potatoes remained in our pantry for over a year – until the other day when I was thumbing through a friend’s bread machine recipe book and saw that potato bread could be easily made with instant mashed potatoes. Let the experimenting begin!

The potato bread recipes I came across included lard, butter, milk and salt. Since the pre-mixed potato packet already had many of these ingredients, I adjusted the recipe to fit packet at hand. If you make this recipe with plain instant potatoes, I’d recommend the addition of more butter and salt.

Mashed Potato Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup instant mashed potatoes
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp yeast

Directions

  1. Rehydrate instant potatoes according to directions.
  2. Mix in butter.
  3. Place potato mixture, milk, water, flour, sugar and yeast into bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Turn on dough setting.
  4. Turn out dough onto floured surface.
  5. Split dough into two pieces and knead into loaf shapes that will fit into loaf pans.
  6. Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Loaves will sound hollow when tapped.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones – Yes, Please!

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coconut chocolate chip scones_nFry an egg, brew a cup of coffee and serve with these icing-laced coconut scones chock-full of mini chocolate chips. Fuel for a hike on the tundra, a morning downtown or whatever the weekend brings.

Shelf stable items are a staple in our Arctic pantry. Recently we have been experimenting with powdered coconut milk and are finding it to be easily reconstituted and packed with flavor. Friends recommended we add extra virgin coconut oil to our pantry, which ups the coconut flavor.

Armed with the coconut flavors I needed and an intriguing recipe I came across on MyBakingAddiction.com, I was ready to bake.

These scones have the essence of a chocolate dipped macaroon without being overly sweet. Using whole wheat for half the flour makes them more hearty than a traditional scone, while the baking powder helps them rise to epic scone proportions. The recipe is a perfect candidate for making dough the night before and popping in the oven the next morning for an impress-your-friends brunch.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 2 tbsp coconut milk (to brush on top)

For the drizzle

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp coconut milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix coconut milk, egg, sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking powder and salt.
  4. Mix butter and coconut oil into flour mixture using a pastry blender or your hands. Do this quickly to avoid melting the butter. Mixture should have pea-sized butter lumps that are evenly distributed in the flour.
  5. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  6. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut flakes.
  7. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times.
  8. Shape dough into a 9-inch disk. Disk should be about 3/4 inch thick.
  9. Place disk on parchment-lined baking sheet.
  10. Slice disk into 12 wedges, pizza-style, leaving the dough in place.
  11. Brush disk with 2 tbsp of coconut milk.
  12. Bake for 18 – 20  minutes, till scones are slightly golden brown on edges.
  13. Cool scones in pan.
  14. While scones are cooling, create drizzle by mixing powdered sugar and coconut milk. Drizzle should be consistency of molasses.
  15. Place drizzle in a Ziploc bag. Snip a tiny bit off of one corner.
  16. With a sweeping motion, squeeze out drizzle over scones until you are satisfied with the amount of coverage.

Baked Minestrone Soup: Celebrating Summer’s Garden

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minestrone soup n

A hearty bowl of minestrone soup is the perfect way to enjoy seasonally abundant vegetables from your own garden, your CSA, the local farmers’ market or the grocer.

Before there was Rome, there was minestrone soup, and although some may insist that true minestrone must have this or that, the spirit of this dish lies in taking advantage of whatever vegetables are on hand. Add pasta or not, rice or not, and although contemporary versions of minestrone usually feature a bean broth, some versions use vegetable or even meat broth. Chunk up some halibut, striped bass or loup de mer (European seabass), toss it in and you’ve got a hearty fish stew. Here’s how we made our minestrone – courtesy of the abundance of vegetables we have now that we are receiving weekly deliveries to our Arctic home from Full Circle Farm. A good smoked sea salt works beautifully in this soup. A dollop of sherry is nice, too.

Ingredients (feel free to change quantities and freely substitute):

  • olive oil
  • 2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, sliced
  • 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • two sunburst squash, diced (zucchini or summer squash also work well)
  • 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced
  • 1 cup (1 ear) sweet corn
  • 1 1/2 cups green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
  • several leaves of basil, cut into thin ribbons chiffonade style. (You can do this by rolling the leaves cigar style, then slicing them.)
  • 1 bunch spinach, chopped coarse
  • 2 cups pinto beans (or other beans), cooked till they’re tender. Separate from broth and save the broth.
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • Italian herbs

Directions:

  1. Start by cooking the beans in a pot till they are soft. Save the broth, as it will be the base of the soup. Set aside beans and broth.
  2. Preheat oven to 400° F.
  3. Place olive oil and tomatoes in a large pot over medium heat stirring occasionally till the tomatoes are falling apart. Add onions and green beans and cook till they just begin to soften. Add garlic and squash, followed by parsley and basil. (You will add the beans, spinach and corn later.)
  4. Stir the broth and pour into the pot so that the vegetables are just covered. Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
  5. As soon as the broth begins to boil, place the pot into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  6. Remove pot from oven. Add beans, spinach and corn. Give the soup a taste and add seasonings as necessary. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven, stir in a good olive oil for added flavor and give it a final taste. Let soup rest with lid on for about 10 minutes.
  8. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a baguette of French bread or a crunchy bolillo.

Fall Harvest Cakes

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fall harvest cakes_n

These delectable individual-sized cakes are packed with the flavors of autumn – honeycrisp apples, crunchy pecans, and caramel.

Taking advantage of fruit, vegetables, fish and wild game during times of seasonal abundance is a celebrated part of our kitchen, but it hasn’t always been easy to do so living in the Arctic bush. Back in California, between farmers’ markets and our own modest garden, our kitchen was stocked with ripe, heirloom tomatoes, freshly picked raspberries and peaches so ripe they had to be eaten over the sink (or outside under our peach trees).

Since moving to bush Alaska, we’ve been shipping up frozen fruits and vegetables during our annual summertime shopping. These have been supplemented with “keeper” produce such as  squashes, potatoes, onions and apples. We’ve managed to keep many of our traditions intact by pulling seasonal items from our pantry and freezers at the appropriate times, but we’ve missed enjoying fruits and vegetables freshly harvested from local farms.

This year, we decided to sign up with a CSA (community supported agriculture). Our “local” CSA, Full Circle Farms, is based in Carnation, Washington, nearly 2,100 miles away. Offering freshly harvested organic choices, Full Circle delivers to the San Francisco Bay Area, Idaho, Washington, and to Arctic Alaska! It has been a long time since we’ve had peaches and nectarines as perfectly ripe as the ones Full Circle has been sending, In fact, all their produce so far, from leafy greens to tomatoes to avocados have been spot on.

As part of our order last week, we received honeycrisp apples. This variety is sweet and crunchy with a pleasant tanginess – a balance that seemed begging to be paired with caramel. The pecan topping gives these cakes a savory crunch.

Fall Harvest Cakes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp plain yogurt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp mace
  • 2 cups shredded apple
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 4-5 caramel candies, or 1/4 cup caramel sauce

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin.
  2. Cream butter and yogurt.
  3. Gradually add sugar to butter mixture. Beat well.
  4. Thoroughly mix in eggs, one at a time.
  5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mace.
  6. Gradually incorporate flour mixture to sugar mixture.
  7. Stir in apples.
  8. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes.
  10. Sprinkle on pecans and caramel (sprinkle chopped candies or pour on sauce).
  11. Bake for 10 more minutes. Cakes are done when wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
  12. Cool on wire racks.