apple chocolate chip cake with caramel topping
Here’s a picture Isaac drew of me for mother’s day, and his endorsement of my cuddling skills.
Apple caramel cake
And today’s Sunday interactive playlist is on the subject of…MOTHERS! and GRANDMOTHERS!! Suprise!
Here’s the link, feel free to add what you like, or leave a comment and I’ll add it for you tomorrow, once I’ve recovered from my mother’s day shift at work.
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1/2 t cardamom
pinch allspice & nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 medium-sized apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
for the caramel…
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 T butter
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 375.
Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar, then the egg, then the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips, and then stir in all of the apples.
Butter and flour a cake pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until it’s puffed, golden, firm to the touch and pulling away from the sides of the pan. Let cool, and then carefully invert onto a plate. If any apples or chocolate chips get stuck on the plate, press them back into the top of the cake and smooth with a knife.
Combine all of the ingredients for the caramel in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is melted and the caramel is bubbly. After about five minutes, drop a small amount into a glass of cold water. If it forms a soft ball, take the caramel off the heat. Let cool till you can comfortably touch the bottom of the pan with the palm of your hand, then beat with a spoon until the caramel is creamy. Spread on top of your cake. If it seizes up, spread it as best you can, and then dip a spoon in very hot water, and use this to smooth the caramel over.
Out of the Ordinary 
“When I think of her it makes me smile” – Dreamville by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Kind, thoughtful moms beget kind thoughtful moms.
Happy Mom’s day to Jane and Claire.
MAMA LOVES Mambo. Sung by Perry Como. That’s what I would add to the playlist.
My mom was born in 1927, the year Sacco and Vanzettii were excecuted.
My mom is an Italian-American. But she identifies herself as American. Her mom died before she knew her.
I love that my mom was so socio/political unaware. That protected her. She danced and played harmonica and jiggerbugged through the depression.
When ww11 ended, her dad fell off a bridge in Nyc. He was an electician on bridges. He was short and dark. They would not let her brother, Uncle Tony, come home from his GI duty in Italy for the funeral.
Uncle Tony was a singer. His style was kinda like Perry Como.
When Uncle Tony came home from war, mom and he went to Hollywood to try to start his singing career. Mom worked as an usherette in Warners Theatre. She served popcorn to Ronald Reagan. She also worked for an Insurance company and had a best friend, Tommy Westfall. Tommy was from Indiana.
I heard a lot about Tommy over the years. Tommy loved my mom. He was probably gay but that was not discussed back then. It was not important. What was important was they shared a precious friendship and a love of poetry.
When i saw the movie, ” A Touch of Pink”. I cried because I know my mom was like the hero’s mom. Perhaps, seeking to be Doris Day.
Good lord, what a story! What a bunch of stories. It sounds as though your poor mom was very alone for a while, but then had some wonderful friends. I would read a book about all of this!!
Thank you!