Spiced Apple Layer Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting paired with Autumn weather: Check.  This recipe is definitely for a weekend gathering with friends & family.

Recipe: Spiced Apple Layer Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting & Caramel

For the Cake

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup applesauce

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour four 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. In another bowl, mix milk and vanilla extract. In a third bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat in. Alternately in increments, add wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture and incorporate fully each time. Fold in applesauce. Pour your mixture into your pans and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the Goat Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
6 ounces goat cheese
8 ounces mascarpone
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
Beat all ingredients until well incorporated. Refrigerate for one hour.

For the Caramel

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar 
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces 
1/2 cup heavy cream 
2 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch allspice 

Method:

In a saucepan, bring sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil for about 10 minutes, until caramel is a deep amber color. Reduce heat and add butter and stir until smooth. Stir in cream, bourbon and spices. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble cake, place one layer on a cake plate and frost generously with goat cheese frosting. Add each layer, alternating cake and frosting, finishing with a top layer of frosting. Smooth or scrape down sides of cake to expose the sides of the layers. Top with caramel sauce, allowing it to drizzle down the sides of your cake.

Recipe from Anthropologie

To continue with our Autumn Recipe posts every few days, here is one of our favorites for this time of the year: Hot Cider & Cinnamon Apple Chips.

Strangely enough, Hot Cider isn’t as popular in Iceland as it is in the states, but that’s quite alright with us because we enjoy making it for our guests & will making  lots of it this winter season at our pop-up markets & future Restaurant Days in Reykjavík with some of our gift boxes & soft goods for sale.

For the Cider:

Ingredients
10 winesap apples, quartered
3/4 cup sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
Pinch of whole cloves
1 tablespoon allspice berries
Enough water to cover

Method
Wrap all spices in a small piece of doubled-up cheesecloth and tie off securely. Add apples, sugar, spice pack and water to a large stockpot and bring to a boil for one hour. Lower heat and allow mixture to simmer for an additional two hours. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove spice pack and discard. Strain the remaining mixture through a fine mesh sieve, as many times as needed to reach desired consistency. Reheat to enjoy, and top with whipped cream and apple chips.

For the Cinnamon Apple Chips:

Ingredients
1 apple, thinly sliced with seeds removed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange apple slices, evenly spaced. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle the mixture over apples. Bake for two hours, moving the slices with tongs once to prevent sticking. Remove from oven and let cool.

Recipe from Anthropologie

Autumn has arrived (in Iceland Summer sadly never came) & the one thing in our house that represents this lovely time of the year is baking goods & having small gatherings on the weekends.

Every few days we will be sharing our favorite Autumn & Winter recipes with you-

Since Anthony is from California where apple orchids are just a short drive away from his hometown, the Dutch Oven Apple Crisp was an obvious first R.T.Co. recipe to share since it mirrors the changing season so perfectly.

Recipe: Dutch Oven Apple Crisp

A Dutch oven is defined as a cast-iron kettle with a tight cover used for baking in an open fire; a metal shield for roasting before an open fire; a brick oven in which cooking is done by the preheated walls; and a heavy pot with a tight-fitting domed cover. Before you get started on the Apple Crisp, read our tips on using the Dutch oven in the best possible way!

First of all, the secret to successful Dutch oven cooking is using the proper amount of heat both above and below it. Ideally you’ll want to take the coals out of the main fire and place them to the side (about two feet from the fire) and then place hot coals on top of the lid. This distributes the heat evenly and will help you avoid burning your food on the bottom. Depending on the length of time you need to cook your dish, you can try moving your Dutch oven to a fresh, hot layer of coals every 20 to 30 minutes.

Second tip: To clean your Dutch oven, simply place it upside down over the campfire. Lastly, avoid wrapping your leftover apple crisp in tinfoil and leaving it out in the open. Why, you ask? Because the crows love love love the shiny tinfoil and they will come swooping in and tear it apart, eating all of your leftovers and making a huge mess. These things I have learned from experience.

Ingredients
For the Apple Mixture
10 medium to large apples
Pat of unsalted butter for greasing baking dish
2 tablespoons/30 milliliters fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup (4.6 ounces/130 grams) sugar (we like coconut or demerara sugar)
1/3 cup (1.6 ounces/45 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the Topping
2 cups (10 ounces/285 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces/340 grams) packed brown sugar
1 cup (3 ounces/85 grams) instant oatmeal
1/2 cup (2 ounces/55 grams) walnuts, chopped
1 cup (8 ounces/225 grams) unsalted butter (or coconut oil), melted

Method 
For an ideal apple crisp, choose a combination of apples such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Golden Delicious. Peel, core and slice the apples and put them in a buttered 12-inch/30-centimeter Dutch oven. Add the lemon juice and stir to coat the apples.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix well. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples and stir until the apples are evenly coated. Spread the apples evenly.

To make the topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, oatmeal and walnuts in a medium bowl until well combined. Use a fork to mix in the melted butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Distribute the crumbly topping evenly over the apples.

Cover the Dutch oven and bake using 10–12 briquettes bottom heat and 16–18 briquettes top heat for 60 minutes or until the top is crispy and the apples are tender. Alternatively, bake the crisp in a preheated 350°F/175°C oven.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 16

Recipe from Kinfolk