I was charged with babysitting my nephews the other day and I couldn’t resist their little pleading faces when they asked me for dessert. I caught a glimpse of the bowl of apples in my periphereal and decided to make the “Company Apple Crisp”  dish I’d found in my Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I recalled how simplistic and common the ingredient list appeared to be and knew I had those items but was still amazed that I did, in fact, have every single item with the exception of fresh lemon juice. I did, however, have a lime and that would HAVE to work….and it did.

Sorry, but site or no site, I was too tired to wash dishes after babysitting and definitely NOT for the SAME 2 little reasons I was so beat. Therefore, you’ll have to deal with the styrofoam bowls I used to serve this sweet treat. They’re not completely unsightly when you peek in on their contents. YUM-MEEEEE.

It may have been inconsiderate of me to give them the Apple Crisp JUST before turning them back over to their mom but all they know is that Auntie Zina is the fav (and if you truly know anything, you know that is a bold face lie).

INGREDIENTS

Topping:

 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 c pecans, chopped fine

3/4 c old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 c (3 1/2 oz) packed brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/2 tea. table salt

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

 3 lbs. Golden Delicious apples (approx 7)

1/4 c granulated sugar

1 c apple cider

2 tea. juice from 1 lemon

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS

For the topping:

•  Adjust rack to the middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Combine flour, pecans, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.
• Stir in butter until mix is thoroughly moistened and crumbly.
• Set aside.

For the filling:

• Toss apples, sugar and cinnamon together in large bowl; set aside.
• Bring cider to a simmer in a 12-inch oven-safe* skillet over medium heat. 
• Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, approx. 5 minutes.
• Transfer reduced cider to bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice and set aside.
• Heat butter in now empty skillet over medium and cook stirring frequently, until apples begin to soften and become translucent, 12 to 14 minutes. (DO NOT FULLY COOK THE APPLES BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVE TO BAKE IN THE OVEN)
• Remove pan from heat and gently stir in cider and mix until apples are coated.
• Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks.
• Place skillet on a baking sheet and bake until fruit is tender and topping is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 mins. and serve….preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Apparently, my invitation was lost in the mail to Kim Porter’s (most famous for being a mother to 3 of Diddy’s kids and the one he supposedly wants to be with) recent bday bash. Other than her reportedly $2500 Chanel boots, the only thing enviable about the event were her Patron cupcakes. Ummm….

So, with my complete FierceFoodie budget for the month (according to Greg) I purchased my first bottle of Patron ($26.99, Publix Liquors). You guys are ALL invited….except Little Ms. Kim….go play with your boots!  

This recipe is adapted from a cookbook called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Of course, this recipe isn’t vegan however, lol.

Patron Cupcake Recipe

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
• 1 c. milk (I used 2%)
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp Patron
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar (I used confectioner’s)
• 1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.

WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, milk, oil, Patron, vanilla and sugar.

DRY INGREDIENTS: In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

The Tequila Lime Frosting Recipe

• 1/4 cup butter melted 
• 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream or milk
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp Patron
• 2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
• coarse sugar and salt for “rims”

Cream together butter, milk, lime juice, tequila, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. I ended up using maybe 4-5 cups of sugar. With 2 cups, the frosting was very wet and could basically be poured. As you can see from my pics, I liked it a little stiffer so I could pipe it. Add and add the confectioner’s sugar (in 1/2  c. increments) until it’s where you want it. Play with it, it’s pretty cool. 

Spread on cupcakes and roll the edges in a small amount of coarse, colored sugar if you like. I omitted this step. 

RECIPE VERDICT: The cupcakes were very good but the icing was phenomenal!! I am NOT A BAKER at all. I would like to be one one day, but as of today, I am not. My attempt at “from scratch” cupcakes yielded less than perfect results. They didn’t rise as I wanted them to and I had to overcompensate for the space by over-icing the cupcakes. I’ve seen recipes for this that used a white box cake mix as the base and I see no reason not to….of course, with the Patron additions.