“Good Morning, Neighbor”
Mouse decides one morning that he wants to bake an omelet, however he needs to borrow some eggs. He heads to his neighbor and he doesn’t have eggs, but he has another ingredient to contribute. So off they go to ask another neighbor and the results are similar so the pattern continues until the plans change to baking an apple cake and many neighbors and their contributions are involved. In the end everyone enjoys a tasty apple cake that they all created through teamwork and a little celebration is had.
This book is positively charming with its warm message and whimsical illustrations. It addresses both the lessons that community means teamwork and the fact that there are many different and unique ways to contribute. It is a new favorite in our home and I foresee us reading it over and over and over again!
Click here to purchase “Good Morning, Neighbor” *affiliate link
Apple Cake
Because the animals in this book bake an apple cake, of course we wanted to bake one of our own! What made it extra fun was at the end of the story there is a list included of all the characters in the story and what their contributions were. It makes an ingredients list for a potential recipe so the apple cake recipe that we created uses those ingredients and only those ingredients. My kids got a big kick out of that and after we baked the cake together they wanted to look at the list again to ensure that we did things “correctly”. So cute!
The resulting cake is a new favorite of mine! I love the rustic aesthetic of it because to me it is just beautiful with is warm hue and wrinkly apples. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top for a lovely affect and was so pleased at how nicely it sliced up. Even more importantly, it tastes divine! It is a more dense and “bread like” cake that isn’t too sweet so it reminds me of European cakes. (Which I love!) It is such a comfort food, especially when eaten warm, and it didn’t last long in our home before being devoured. Also, I have got to mention that it filled our home with the most divine cinnamon-apple scent that is worth making the cake for on it’s own. Yup, this recipe is definitely a new “go-to” for us, especially for Fall!
Easy Apple Cake
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 50m
- Yield: 1 9" Cake
- Category: book recipe, Dessert
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (heaping)
- 1/4 cup raisens
- 3 small apples (I used Gala)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and grease and flour a 9" cake dish with butter.
- Prepare the apples by coring and slicing them. (You can also peel them if desired, but I like to leave the peels on mine because they give the slices more structure and create a more "rustic" look when baked. Either way is fine.)
- In a medium bowl mix together sugar, eggs and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon and raisins with a whisk until combined.
- Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl with a spoon. Then scoop your batter into your prepared cake tin and spread with a spatula.
- Take your apple slices and place them on top of your batter in a circular pattern around your cake dish. Mine fit one circle around the edge with a smaller circle inside and two slices to fill the center.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes until the edges are lightly browned and pulling away from the sides of the pan. A toothpick should come up clean from the center.
- Once cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar on top if desired.
If you give this Beyond the Book activity a try I’d love to hear how it goes! Share it on Instagram and tag me! (I’m on Instagram as @book.nerd.mommy) or even just comment here with your thoughts. It would make my day! Or to simply save for later pin the image below.
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