These Apple Pie Cupcakes were Golden Delicious...

Today's challenge started out as a bit of an ordeal and waking up about three hours later than I'd hoped wasn't the best of starts. I had intended to get some baking done and blogged about before my lecture started at three in the afternoon but the best laid plans of mice and men... So it was my own fault that I'm having to do this blog at Ten PM after a frantic couple of hours in the kitchen.

It all started going wrong when my driving instructor (who was meant to give me a lesson after my lecture) never turned up. You know how when you're waiting for someone to turn up you can't do anything else at all? Well I did that for about an hour, he never turned up, worse though was that I'd wasted the hour or so I could have been baking on hovering about expecting him to arrive any moment. In the end I settled on making some wholemeal bread because it would only take a bit of kneading and then could be left to rise if he suddenly turned up. I know it's not the most exciting or interesting recipe I've done yet but it needs to be done & earlier rather than later. I had set my hopes on making Warm Spiced Apple Pie Cupcakes but this was the prudent choice. Plus I could pretend I was kneading my driving instructor's face in frustration for him not turning up!

So it was left to prove as I decided that actually I wanted to do the cupcakes as well, I'd had my sights set on them all day and I really wanted to have some tasty cupcakes to have after tea. Alas, I didn't have the ingredients again. A long trek in the rain later I was stocked up with everything I needed. And by gum am I glad I did that. I'll admit I was stressed out trying to cook bread, cupcakes and my dinner simultaneously but with the skill of an Octopus chef I managed to do what no man has ever done before... Multi-Task, and pretty successfully at that!

The dinner was edible, the bread is edible and the cupcakes well, they were pretty close to perfect. I'll be the first to admit I don't make my baked goods look pretty but they tasted heavenly. The crunch on the top, the mild spiced flavour, the bite of the cooking apples and the spongey texture of the cupcake in the middle makes for a delectable treat.

Before baking it looked impossible; the kitchen was a mess, there was washing up to do from yesterday evening (it really piles up when you bake daily!) and the lack of driving lesson had knocked me all out of kilter (as well as putting me on edge). But when I sat down with a cupcake and a cup of tea after a few hours of hectic activity I knew that this challenge was well worth it. I may have taken on more of a challenge than I had ever anticipated but I know for sure now that every single day will be well worth the effort.

The Results:

Mmmm, DELICIOUS

Mmmmm, wholesome...

Recipes are here: Cupcakes & Bread