Apple Chai Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle

I have made a lot of cakes…like…a lot of cakes, but this one, this cake, is one of the most amazing tasting desserts I have come across in a long time. I can’t stop eating it! It has the perfect ratio of cake to apples and drizzly frosting. I also covered mine in walnuts because walnuts with anything sweet are the ultimate pairing in my opinion.

I never thought about making an apple cake with a chai mixture. It’s honestly so perfect and a nice change up from a traditional cinnamon spiced version. I could eat the apples just like this and I just might have.

The sliced apples are layered between the cake batter and baked to perfection in your favorite Bundt pan.

The cake slides easily out of the pan and is a gorgeous golden brown color with some of the apples peeking through.

Every slice is packed with apples. I’ve eaten this cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it just keeps on giving and tastes great for days.

How can you not make this?

Other Apple Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy

• caramel apple layer cake
• cinnamon apple cake
• butterscotch apple cake
• German apple cake

More Chai Spice Recipes

Here are a few more recipes that move you into the warmer side of the spice drawer.

• Chai Eggnog – spiced from-scratch bliss.
• Pumpkin Chai Pots de Crème – pumpkin custard with pumpkin seed brittle.
• Chai-Spiced Ice Cream Syrup – perfect for giving.

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The post Apple Chai Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle appeared first on Noble Pig.

If you’re like me, when an area of the house becomes highly disorganized, I start to feel REALLY stressed out about it. Every time I opened this particular cabinet, items would fall out and I stopped having the patience to take every thing out just to just get to the flour. The doors to this overstuffed box would no longer even close properly.

I became a victim of purchasing items I didn’t need because I couldn’t find them easily. Honestly, it was less time consuming to pick-up something new than deal with getting it out of this cabinet. Sound dramatic? It was. I know many of you can relate to that.

While my dishes above the cabinet in question are completely organized, the reality behind the two closed doors on the bottom was an ugly mess. I wanted to transform this space, but I wasn’t sure about an efficient way to make it happen.

With holiday baking right around the corner, I needed a new plan. Before going to the market, I wanted to know what nuts I needed from the store. Or, was I out of flour, sugar or chocolate chips? And hopefully I could finally ditch the clothespins holding closed so many half opened bags.

Here is the BEFORE picture of the messy cabinet. Obviously the space was not being utilized efficiently. The round canisters did not sit well next to each other, taking up too much space in between. Also, not having flat, stackable surfaces was not working. It was a mess and I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to reorganize it.

Just as I was in the beginning stages of researching the perfect containers for my cabinet, my friends over at OXO contacted me and asked if I wanted to try out their line of POP Containers. Coincidence? Yes.

I have been using OXO products in my kitchen forever and they have never let me down. These containers were exactly what I needed to make my small baking cabinet more useful and efficient.

As you can see, flat lids and POP containers were designed especially for stacking, while the square and rectangular shapes make the POP Containers space efficient. It’s just what I needed.

I love the wide open canisters for scooping.

Pop-open lids on the containers and dispensers can be opened with just one hand.

I filled the OXO cereal containers with the most popular nuts in my baking repertoire. The largest container now houses my walnuts, while pecans and almonds were placed in the smaller dispensers.

The pop up lids of these cereal containers are wide-mouthed, making contents easy to pour and scoop out. They also open and close without much effort.

The post Reorganizing the Baking Cabinet appeared first on Noble Pig.

It’s time to slough off dry-winter skin with an invigorating homemade body scrub!

This is an easy, all-natural and really, really inexpensive way to pamper yourself.  Not to mention this is a great gift for the hostess at all the upcoming parties you are going to attend.

And of course, it was another way to recycle my cute jam jars….I love them.

More Scrub Recipes You Might Enjoy:

1. Zesty Grapefruit Sugar Scrub ~ Noble Pig
2. Rosemary Mint Sugar Scrub ~ Good Life Style
3. Ginger and Coconut Oil Sugar Body Scrub ~ Food For My Family
4. Vanilla Bean Sugar Scrub ~ Rachel Cooks
5. 25 Gift-Worthy Beauty Products from the Kitchen

The post Lemon-Salt Body Scrub appeared first on Noble Pig.

If you are looking for something special to line your walkway to greet your arriving guests or something unique to place on the table for your holiday celebration…look no further.  This glowing parfait is made by alternating layers of cranberries and ice.

Lucky you if you live somewhere where it is frozen outside, you won’t need any extra-space in your freezer to make these up.  Obviously if you live where it’s below freezing, these will last much longer outside.

If you want to place them on your table inside, set in a bowl that will catch the melting water.  Put out right before guests arrive or right before you sit down to dinner.

These are so beautiful in person, the picture does not do them justice.

Cranberry Ice Luminaria

One empty 2-liter flexible plastic bottle, cut in half
One empty 1-liter flexible plastic bottle, cut in half
Water
Fresh cranberries
Votive candle with insert
Rocks

Use your 2-liter bottle for the outside of the mold and create a hollow place for the candle with the 1-liter bottle.  Fill the 1-liter bottle with rocks to weigh it down.  Add  a few inches of water and drop a line of cranberries into the gap between the two bottles.  If your cranberries are too big, slice them in half.  Freeze one layer solid, then add more water and berries in the gap and freeze again, then add a final layer and freeze one last time.  Thaw slightly before unmolding…it will take a little pulling but will unmold perfectly.  Place votive candle with insert inside hollow center.  Distilled water will give you the clearest ice.

Happy Holidays!!

The post How to Make a Cranberry Ice Luminaria appeared first on Noble Pig.

This whimsical tree is a clever way to use old wine corks.  If you’re like me and can’t part with your old wine corks, then you probably have thousands of them filling up bowls around the house.

This is easy to make with just a few supplies, fill your house with cheer and this fun decoration.

The post How to Make a Wine Cork Christmas Tree appeared first on Noble Pig.

Helping someone choose the right type of wine to pair with their meal is also a fulfilling task.

I know learning about wine can be overwhelming at first, but surprisingly a little knowledge can go a long way.

One question I am often asked references wine and vegetables.  With everyone including more greens and other brightly colored veggies in their diets, wine concerns are becoming more prevalent.  So the question remains, should the vegetables in the meal be considered in the wine pairing equation?

Yes.

There are some problem veggies out there with some flavor challenges.  They can create havoc with wine but can be overcome with a little forethought.

Definitely stay away from the full-bodied reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz/Syrah.  These wines will crush the delicate flavors of the veggies.  Save these wines to serve with red-meat as their tannins bind with the meat’s proteins, making both the wine and the meat taste hearty and silky in the same bite.  Most  vegetables lack proteins and these robust wines will leave you with a metallic or bitter taste.  It’s not good.  Trust me.

I have always felt white wines do better with vegetables BUT if you must go red choose something soft and fruity…such as Pinot Noir.

Spinach and artichokes.  With these two veggies you are dealing with inherent astringency.  Wines served with these vegetables should have little or no oak influence.  Artichokes also (as well as asparagus) contain an acid called cynarin, making everything taste sweeter than it is, presenting yet another challenge.  Choose crisp, light intensity wines; they will pair best being relatively high in acid.  Stick with unoaked Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc or a blanc de blancs sparkling wine.

Green bell pepper, asparagus, zucchini and green beans.  Here it is the natural grassy and vegetal qualities inherent in these vegetables, giving wine pairing a run for its money.  I would choose a Sauvignon Blanc as they tend to be crisp and herbally forward.  With the green bell peppers I might go with Pinot Gris/Grigio as the vibrant acidity of this wine will stand up to the strong flavors of this particular veggie.

Tomatoes:  This is probably one of the biggest challenges for wine.  The high-acidity of the tomato found in tomato based sauces and can really upset the desired wine-food balance.  Go with Sangiovese, I do believe it was made especially for these types of meals.

Cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts:  Here we have issues with minerality and sulfurous characteristics.  If you can’t beat them, join them.  Look for minerality and fruitness.  A very dry Riesling (many are sweet-be careful), Gewurztraminer or some bubbly will do well here.

Salads:  Match the dressing to the wine.  A creamy-full fat coating requires an acidic counter part.  A dry Riesling works well.

Rich vegetable lasagnas or casseroles:  Because you have many flavors at work here up the ante a bit and pair these dishes with a medium-bodied wine.  Go Merlot if you like red or Chardonnay if white is what you prefer.  A lighter style wine would be underwhelming here.

However, sometimes you have to make the vegetables work with the wine.  You can do this by adding fat into sauces or dressings.  Things like butter, olive oil, cheese, cream or mayo will help cut the undesirable “veggieness”.  Grilling will also create flavors more palatable to the vegetable-wine dilemma.  Lastly, substituting citrus juice for some of the vinegar in your vinaigrettes will help lower acidity, enhancing the wine experience.

Finding wines to pair with your veggies is not unfeasible…enjoy the challenge.

The post How to Pair Wine with Vegetables appeared first on Noble Pig.

Noble Pig, established in 2007, is a place for me to write about food, develop recipes and share them with you.

Welcome to my site and my life!

About Cathy Pollak

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