Sitting in the Cafe dining room looking out at the dove gray skies, breathing the apple cinnamon through my nose, my mind imagines it's been a wonderful year for apple orchards. I mean, it smells that way to me! People in the neighborhood have been making cider, apple sauce, apple butter, and who knows what lately. Me? I'm baking Grammy's Apple Mess. It's a recipe that my mother wrote down while listening to a radio show in our cape cod house on Tunxis Ave in Bloomfield Connecticut. I was a little girl who loved this Apple Mess, and at the time, couldn't understand why we couldn't whip the crab apples that hung over Mom's 1954 pink Crown Victoria into such sweetness.
This recipe is absolutely fantastic to make with a young person in your life. Measurements are easy and forgiving.
Grammy's Apple Mess
Equipment:
A Wooden Spoon
A Fork
1 Cup Dry Measure
1 Teaspoon Measure
A Medium Bowl
An 8x8" or 9x9" Square Pan
An Oven
Ingredients:
3 Tart Apples cut into any kind of chunks (½" or so?) (I leave the skins on)
2 Eggs
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Chop your apples. Shape and size don't particularly matter. Put the butter into the bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute to just melt it. Beat the eggs into the bowl with the fork until they're well mixed. Add the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and continue to mix with the fork. Add the flour and stir just until incorporated with the wooden spoon. Throw in the tart apple chunks and stir gently with the wooden spoon.
Scoop it all into the un-greased square pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Put a scoop of ice cream on top when serving squares, or dollop with pure whipped cream.
