Makes one 13" x 9" pan

3 eggs
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups diced apples

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat eggs and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add oil and vanilla; mix well. Sift dry ingredients and mix into the wet mixture. Stir in apples.
3. Coat pans with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serves 8

For the Apple Filling:

2 tablespoons butter
4 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 slices each
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Popovers:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter

For the Cream:

1 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and stir to coat. Cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes until apples are soft, but not mushy. Cool.
2. To prepare the popovers, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Add the flour, salt, sugar, and melted butter, and continue to whisk until a smooth batter forms.
4. Grease a muffin tin and fill with 2-3 cooked apple slices per muffin cup. Place in the oven for 5 minutes to heat up the tins. Remove tins from the oven and pour batter over the apples to fill cups ¾ of the way to the top.
5. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce to 375 degrees F and continue to bake for another 20 minutes. They should be golden brown. Remove from oven and spoon into serving dishes. Flip the popovers so that the apples are on top.
6. While the popovers are baking, mix the cream cheese and brown sugar for the cream. Place in the refrigerator until needed.

Makes approximately 2 cups

4 cups chopped apples
1 cup sugar
15 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In a large saucepan, mix the apples and sugar. Cook on high heat until the fruit defrosts and syrup starts to look jammy, about 15 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the thyme leaves. Continue cooking uncovered for 10 minutes, until the fruit/sugar mixture thickens.
3. Add the lemon juice. Serve warm topped with fresh thyme leaves.