Cinnamon Apple Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting

This was a delicious breakfast and could totally be baked into muffins.  And instead of frosting, you can tart it up in several ways (bake it topped with a crumble, drizzle with caramel...) depending on how sweet you'd like it to be.

4 oz cup Spring Hill butter
1 1/4 cup rapadura sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups apple - peeled, cored, chopped about 1/4"
1/2 cup walnut or pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 inch round pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Stir in the apples and nuts.
Spread batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Cinnamon Goat Cheese Frosting
2 oz butter (from Spring Hill: the secret to a perfect frosting), room temp
4 oz chevre cheese, room temp
1/4 vanilla bean (or 3/4 tsp vanilla extract), fair trade of course
3 oz powdered sugar
a pinch of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
and if you want to get real crazy, a couple scrapes of orange zest

Scrape vanilla seeds from the bean (save the pod for vanilla sugar or make your own extract). Whip all ingredients together until smooth.

or...

Crumble Topping
6 tablespoons butter or nut oil (or a mix of the 2)
¾ cup rapadura sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup rolled oats and/or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans...)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix together and crumble over the cake batter before baking.