Easy apple recipes stock up Kats’ cart

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Apples may not have the same romantic allure as say strawberries, but have you ever heard someone say “She was the strawberry of his eye?” Exactly. Our favorite people are the apples of our eyes. So with that in mind and with today being Valentine’s Day, let’s treat our favorites to something sweet with apples.

Judie Elmquist shares this simple crisp recipe.

Apple Crisp

Butter

4 to 6 cups thinly sliced apples, more or less (exact amount depends on the size

of your dish)

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Whipped cream or ice cream, for serving

Butter a baking dish. Fill the buttered baking dish

¾ full with sliced apples. Sprinkle granulated sugar over apples.

In a bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

And Vickie Logan shares this apple bake made with canned apples and cake mix.

Cinnamon-Apple Bake

2 (20-ounce) cans sliced

apples with liquid

1 to 2 teaspoons ground

cinnamon

1 cup firmly packed light

brown sugar

1 (9-ounce) box yellow cake

mix

½ cup butter, melted

Lightly grease a 9-by-13inch baking dish. Spread apple in bottom of dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Top evenly with dry cake mix and then drizzle with melted butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

And speaking of yellow cake mix, a reader recently asked me about substituting white cake mix in a recipe that calls for yellow. In some recipes, such as the one above, it wouldn’t make much difference, but if you’re baking an actual cake or if the recipe also calls for the ingredients listed on the mix package, your best bet is to use whole eggs, add a tablespoon or two of melted butter to the oil listed on the package and maybe a splash of vanilla.

The main difference between white and yellow cake is egg yolks. White cake does not include yolks. Yellow cake does. The yolks and butter contribute to yellow cake’s sunny hue and richer flavor.