I’ve had budgets on my mind lately. As a single-income family, tightening our financial belt is a necessity and I’ve been reviewing our expenditures. Food is a huge expense, and when I saw this on Pinterest, I couldn’t believe that a family of six could eat on $350 per month. I was inspired and intimidated. That’s a lot of planning, friends. This woman should be running our country with that kind of organizational skills.
This is somewhat connected to the apple cake I baked, because I figured that for what a slice would cost at a lovely bakery, I was able to make an entire cake. I’ve obviously fallen off the less-sugar wagon. And though I might be deficient in calorie-saving, I am proud of my penny-saving.
Erin commented that Pink Lady apples are yummy some time ago and I had never tried them, but knew that you can always count on a pastry chef to steer you in the right direction when it comes to sweet things. I believe she called them “poor man’s honeycrisps” and being on the poor side of the socioeconomic hierarchy (though my fabric collection may make you think otherwise), they sounded right up my alley. I got several pounds’ worth and loved them. We ate a bunch, but I still had a few left over and thought I should bake something.
I asked K if she would like an apple tart and she said, “Actually, I would prefer apple cake. That would be lovely.” The girl has never had apple cake, as far as I know, but I had to agree that it sounded awfully delicious. And yes, she really talks like that. My favorite apple tart recipe is from Orangette, and I did a quick search to see if she had apple cake in her arsenal as well. Bingo. That Molly, she’s good.
I urge you to read her post to understand how truly mouth-watering this cake is. Her description is spot-on, and because I used a sweeter apple, I reduced the sugar amount by a 1/4 cup and it’s perfect. I can’t wait to have another slice for breakfast tomorrow. Yum.
P.S. We postponed the server upgrade. Again. Oh well.
Oh my God… budget… I loathe that word. We are on the same boat trying to survive on one income. My belt has become more like a bracelet at this point!
Mmm… apple cake! That looks delicious Sanae. When I was younger, I used to bake apple cookies from my mom’s recipe diary. Somehow between their move back tot he Philippines and here, it got lost. If you ever come across an apple cookie recipe, give me a holler! In the meantime, I’m going to try this tart.
Mmmm, apple cookies sound delish! I bet it would be wonderful with an oatmeal-based dough.
Thanks for the Pink Lady tip – my husband is a huge fan of Honey Crisp and I have such a hard time stomaching the cost to buy them. I’ll try these and see if he even notices!
I got “A Homemade Life” last year for my birthday, as much for the stories behind each recipe as for the actual recipe. Such delightful reading.
As I was reading K’s comment about the apple cake, I wondered if it was verbatim, which made me chuckle. Love her word choices – must have a writer for a mom:)
I love “A Homemade Life”! I make Burg’s Potato Salad often. I’ve almost met Molly several times and she’s one of those people I’d love to get to know!
I just finished reading that budget “thing”. It scared me at the beginning but I have give it a second thought, I will try to pursue this and stay on it! We are on one budget and two kids, my fabrics are going to suffer a cut soon!!! But this is a great idea and thanks for sharing it!! Your apple cake is on my list as well and this weekend might be the right time to bake it! Ciao!
That budget system is very scary, I agree, Patty. I consider myself to be pretty good at organizing and that completely intimidates me! I’m going to try a less complicated version (it’s just me, the hubs and K, after all) and see how it goes…let me know how you do! And good luck with the apple cake. Ours barely lasted a day. I had to threaten everyone to keep their paws off of the last slice so that I could have it for breakfast 🙂