The Men of Mad(ison) Ave and an Apple Torte

The Kleiner and the Kleinette, having had enough of the extremely cold temperatures, decided to spend the night in Mt. P cooking, watching many episodes of Mad Men and generally hiding.  First of all, Mad Men is a fantastic, fantastic series that the Kleinette is very much looking forward to completing.  Between this morning and this evening, we watched five episodes, all of which very catchy and extremely depressing.  I can't imagine living in 1960, in a world so extremely governed by societal norms that box women in so much.  I have a feeling we finish the first season within the next two weeks and then another three for the second. 

We also made our own variation of a friend's recipe for an 'Apple Torte' with 'Butter Rum Cream Frosting.' It is a heart attack in a pan, but an extremely apple-y, cinnamonee, brown-sugaree heart attack.  Recipe follows:

Apple Torte:

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar (or 1 cup white plus 1 cup light brown)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups apples - peeled, cored and diced (tart best)
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons rum
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch cake pan (or pirex).
2. In a mixing bowl; beat oil and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well.
3. Combine the flour salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Let cake cool on a wire rack. Once cake is cool, cover with Cream Frosting and Nut Topping.

Cream Frosting:

Mix 2 sticks of butter until creamy. Add 1/2 cup of sugar (or to taste) plus 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. On the side, mix one egg white until pick and set aside. Add the egg yolk to the butter mix and fold the egg white to the mix by hand (you want the cream to be light). Once you have blended everything, add the rum and the milk and keep blending.

Nut Topping:

Using a food processor, chop one cup of walnuts, two tablespoons of ground cinnamon and half cup of sugar (more to taste). Spread evenly over the cream frosting - it will create a sort of hardened delicious nut topping.

These are essentially the directions I got from my friend, except for the Rum, thats my own variation.  I also made this all in a kitchenaide stand up mixer which seemed to work extremely well.  Also - its fall, and Washington, DC's latest craze is the Farmers Market.  We have them in many neighborhoods ranging from Mt. Pleasant, to Anacostia, to Dupont Circle.  Now, the Farmers Markets have hit the Executive Branch.  On Thursdays, there is a 'White House' farmers market set-up just north of Lafayette Park full of lavender goodies, apples, fancy empanadas and the usual staple Quark.  Following the White House market, another one has opened on Fridays by the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center on Pennsylvania Ave, which means, delicious farmers market apples for the torte.  In my humble opinion, Farmers Markets can be the most difficult places to avoid the impulse purchase, so, I generally pick a recipe using what I think are in season items and then pick them up at the market.