I spend a good part of each morning daydreaming. Rolling pie crust is a monotonous task and as the simultaneous whir of my industrial strength mixer and window fan make listening to music difficult, I find myself working in relative silence and wondering about the most ridiculous things. The other day I was thinking about my love of irreverent Halloween costumes. One of my all time favorites was a fellow who had painted his face green, covered his body with dried seaweed and sported a life preserver ring with the word “Titanic” painted on it. Because I oftentimes update my Black Buggy Facebook page in-between baking, my thoughts of Halloween then wandered to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. I then began to wonder whether he had a good sense of humor and if so, how a DOCTOR Frankenstein costume would be fitting for him because he is, after all, the creator of one of the largest monsters in modern history.
For those of you who have not succumb to the evils of Facebook, (and the estimate is that a billion people world-wide already have), it’s a place where people post the most mundane trivia about their lives and/or photographs online including what they’re wearing/driving/buying and, sometimes, remarkably, what specifically goes in and out of their digestive systems. What Mark could not have anticipated in creating his “social experiment” is that one third of all marriages are terminated on account of activities attributed to Facebook, that law enforcement officials now regularly use it as an evidence finding tool as do insurance adjusters with a growing percentage of disability claims being refuted on account of photographic evidence gleaned from the Facebook pages of (allegedly) incapacitated “victims.”
On a personal level, for all it’s faults I do enjoy how it has provided me the ability to stay in contact with a diverse collection of friends I wouldn’t otherwise have kept in touch with including those from my childhood, those from college and law school and numerous ones I’ve worked with over the years. But for Facebook I wouldn’t be part of their lives generally, and specifically, I wouldn’t have known about the One Pan Apple Cake recently posted by my friend Lauren. The recipe originated on one of the many food-related Facebook pages which, come to think of it, was the catalyst for the proliferation of mouth-watering food photographs now otherwise referred to as “food porn.” We can thank Mark for that as well.
In any event, as apple season is in full swing here in Pennsylvania, (which, incidentally ranks 5th in the country in apple production), I have a huge selection to select from. The recipe was as simple as purported to be. I particularly liked how the recipe could be made in one bowl. I have enough dishes to contend washing by hand in the bakery so anytime I can cut down on dirty dishes the remainder of the day is a huge plus for me. I changed things up a bit from the original version to replicate the flavor of apple pie in cake form.
Bowl To Oven Apple CakeIngredients:
2 eggs1 cup sugar3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla6 medium apples, peeled and sliced (Gala/HoneyCrisp/Jonagold)
2 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Mix the eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, by hand. Add the apples and coat with the wet mixture. Add the flour and baking powder in and keep stirring until all of the ingredients are combined. Pour into pan and bake for approximately 50 minues.
If anyone is now considering dressing up as Mark Zuckerberg AS Dr. Frankenstein this Halloween please do not forget the most important aspect of your costume – stuffing your pockets with money and, if you do find yourself on Facebook, feel free to say hello!
Felicia Fisher is the founder of Black Buggy Baking Company and lives in Oley, PA with her husband and three children who are all willing taste-testers.
To find out what Felicia’s baking up visit her web page www.blackbuggybakingcompany.com or “Like” Black Buggy Baking Company on Facebook.
