The Great American Slow Cooker Book (114 page)

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The cake is lighter than the standard carrot cake, not quite as dense.

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The good thing about greasing and then flouring the canister is that you can tell if there are any spots without oil—there’s no flour adhering to them. Grease the missing spots and add more flour (or just use a nonstick baking spray and be done with it).

Serve It Up!
Since there’s no frosting on this cake, make a
Cream Cheese Sauce:
Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat 3 ounces room-temperature cream cheese with 5 tablespoons heavy cream in a bowl; beat in 1½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Drizzle on each piece—or make a puddle of it in the plate and “float” a piece of cake in it.

1
Dab some oil on a paper towel and thoroughly grease the inside of the slow cooker canister.

2
Whisk the apples, granulated sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside for 15 minutes to macerate.

3
Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a second bowl. Stir the dry mixture
into the apple mixture until there are no pockets of undissolved flour visible.

4
Spread the batter into the slow cooker canister; sprinkle the top with the sliced almonds and brown sugar.

5
Lay long, overlapping strips of paper towel over the top of the slow cooker; set the lid in place. Cook on high for about 3 hours in a small slow cooker, about 3½ hours in a medium one, or about 4 hours in a large cooker, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 2 hours, until the top is dry and the cake is room temperature. Set a cutting board over the canister, invert the whole thing, and turn the cake out before setting it right side up on a serving platter.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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By letting the apples sit with the sugar and oil, they begin to release their moisture, a necessary part of the cake’s success.

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Crumble the brown sugar grains between your fingers so you get the best coverage over the cake’s top.

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A nut oil tastes best in this cake; we chose almond oil to match the topping. Of course, if you don’t want to spring for a nut oil, you can always use canola oil.

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Unfortunately, this cake doesn’t freeze very well. Store it, sealed in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

1
Use some butter to grease the inside of the slow cooker. Add some flour, tilt the canister to coat it in a fine dusting, and tap out any excess flour.

2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

3
Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until creamy and even a bit fluffy, almost no undissolved sugar in the mix. Beat in the
maple syrup until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Finally, beat in the vanilla.

4
Scrape down and remove the beaters. Add the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until all the flour has been moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape and spread this batter evenly in the slow cooker.

5
Lay overlapping lengths of paper towels over the top of the slow cooker, with excess hanging over the sides. Set the lid in place, then cook on high for about 1 hour in a small slow cooker, about 1 hour 15 minutes in a medium cooker, or about 1 hour 40 minutes in a large model, or until the cake is puffed and set to the touch. Unplug, uncover, and cool for 1 hour. If desired, set a cutting board over the canister, invert everything, and shake gently to dislodge the cake; remove the canister, then set the cake right side up on a serving platter or another cutting board.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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Dense and somewhat chewy, this cake gets most of its flavor from the maple syrup—which should be a very dark grade for the best punch.

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Use bittersweet chocolate chips for a more elegant flavor, a tad acidic against the sweet cake.

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This cake freezes well when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Unwrap and thaw on the counter for 3 or 4 hours before serving.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
In baking recipes,
sugar
can mean granulated white sugar or either light or dark brown sugar. In keeping with standard recipe practice, if we merely ask for
sugar
, then we’re talking about granulated sugar. That said, if we use two types of sugar in a recipe, we name them both. And if we call for just brown sugar, we specify either light or dark.

1
Generously butter the inside of a canister, then add a little flour and tilt it all around to coat the sides and bottom. Dump out any excess flour inside.

2
Whisk the flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside.

3
Beat both sugars, butter, and peanut butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at
medium speed until creamy and light, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla until smooth.

4
Scrape down and remove the beaters. Add the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula just until fully moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape and smooth this thick batter into the slow cooker.

5
Overlap long lengths of paper towels on top of the slow cooker, then set the lid in place. Cook on high for about 1½ hours in a small or medium cooker, or about 2 hours in a large cooker, or until the cake is firm throughout, a tad dry at the edges, and set to the touch in the middle. Remove the canister from the cooker, if possible, and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes—or cool in the cooker, turned off, for 45 minutes. If desired, invert the canister or cooker on a cutting board, shake gently to release the blondies, then remove the canister or cooker and turn the blondies right side up before cutting into pieces.

TESTERS’ NOTES

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This one is truly more like bar cookies than a cake. It won’t rise up too much and so ends up very much like standard blondies. Again, the edges will get more done than the center.

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Make sure you beat the sugars, butter, and peanut butter well—certainly until they change consistency and get airy. This will lighten up the still-dense cake considerably.

1
Generously butter the inside of the canister, then add some flour and tilt it until it’s evenly coated. Tap out any excess flour.

2
Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

3
Use an electric mixer at medium speed to beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl until fluffy and pale yellow, with only a few bits of undissolved sugar in the mix. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla until smooth.