Every couple of weeks we get a big batch of fresh fruit (apples, pears, bananas, tangerines) delivered to the office. People seem to go to town on the pears, tangerines and bananas, but the sad apples seem to accumulate. Last night I noticed that they weren't looking so great and decided that no one was going to eat them in that state. So, in an effort to prevent food waste, I took all the apples home and tried to come up with some way to rescue them. I ended up with 5 small apples (not sure what kind, there were at least two varieties) and one medium sized one (again, not sure what kind).

While I was looking for something to do with them (they weren't in the best state, and they weren't really baking apples either), I stumbled across an interesting looking recipe calling for 5 1/2 cups of apples and decided that it would be a good starting point. To learn how I turned sad apples into a happy breakfast treat, read more

First of all, let me start by saying that this was an odd recipe. I wasn't 100% sure of it when I started, was even less sure right before putting it into the oven, and was a bit frustrated when I took it out of the oven (the apples were bland when hot). However, the rate the crew here devoured it for breakfast squashed any sort of bad feelings I was having about the whole thing. The end result was moist and crumbly, like a muffin, and when cooled, the spices masked the poor quality of the apples.

Oh and it's sort of a weird coincidence, but this recipe arrived just in time for Apple's MacWorld.

Apple Muffin Cake
Based on a recipe for Amazing Apple Cake at allrecipes.com

2 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp baking soda
5 small apples
1 medium apple
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil plus 2 tbsp *See Note*
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

• Preheat oven to 325F (165C).
• Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and baking soda into a medium sized bowl.
• Peel, core and dice apples.
• In large bowl or mixer, lightly whisk eggs, oil and vanilla until mixture is uniform.
• Add both sugars (you may want to mix them together first, but it is not necessary). Mix until incorporated. Scrape the sides of bowl as needed.
• Slowly mix in flour mixture. Only add 1/3 at a time, and wait until it is incorporated before adding more. Scrape the bowl as needed. *Note* You may need to add extra oil to ensure a smooth, slightly caramel-like consistency.
• Fold in apples until all are coated. Pour into an 8x8" baking pan - I didn't grease the pan, as I knew I was going to be serving directly in it, but you may want to grease it and line with parchment paper.
• The end result will be quite odd and you'll probably think something along the lines of, "Um, there's no way this is going to work. There's not nearly enough batter and WAAAY too many apples." But trust me, as long as it looks like the photo, it'll be okay.
• Bake for 65 minutes. Check on it often (I started checking around 50 minutes and every 5 minutes after), toothpick inserted into batter (not apple) should come out clean.
• Let it cool completely. Serve!

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