Hoosier Home Cookin'

It's September and I just can't help but think about apples and recipes that go along with them. My favorite apple recipe, hands down, came from my Granny. Spirals of flaky pastry, stuffed with tart apples and cinnamon and covered with a sweet sauce. It's the best apple cobbler I've ever tasted. To be honest, my son Blake has mastered the technique much better than his mom. My rendition never came close to Granny's. His is right on the money. Make sure you use a tart cooking apple for this recipe. It holds up much better, offering a nice texture without being mushy. I'm also including a recipe for Chocolate Apple Snack Cake. It's a from-scratch cake that takes minutes to make. You can choose to frost it if you like, but I like it best plain. Happy eating.

Ruby Strickland's Apple Cobbler

1/2 C. butter

2 C. sugar
2 C. water
1 1/2 C. self-rising flour
1/2 C. shortening
1/3 C. milk
3 C. chopped apples
1 tsp. cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Place butter in pan and melt in oven. In a saucepan, combine sugar and water and heat until sugar dissolves. Mix shortening with flour. Add milk. Flour pastry board and roll out to form a rectangle with a quarter inch thickness. Put apples on pastry and roll up. Cut into 16 slices about half inch thick and carefully place slices, cut side up, in pan. Pour hot syrup over slices. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 55 to 60 minutes.

Chocolate Apple Snack Cake

3 eggs
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. water
2 1/2 C. flour
1 C. nuts (pecans or walnuts)
2 med. apples or 2 C. applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients and pour into a lightly greased 11 X 13 cake pan. Bake for 60 minutes.