Cider Claws

MFG|Flavor|% :-:|:-:|:-: HS|Apple Mix|1% CAP|Cinnamon Danish Swirl|2.5% TPA|Dragonfruit|2 dps/30ml FA|Fuji Apple|0.3% FA|Joy|2 dps/30ml FA|Meringue|1% JF|Yellow Cake|2.5% FA|Zeppola|4%

Steep time: Minimum 10 days, best after 14.
Best VG: Personally I'm a 70vg/30pg guy, but experiment at your leisure.

Welcome, this is by far the most amount of time I've spent on a recipe. I have been mixing for over a year and this is a recipe I have revisited countless times. The last one I actually released is under "Zider Donut" if you're interested in seeing the last semi-completed version, and you can see how far it's come. The original goal was to create an apple cider cake-doughnut. Back when I was a kid my mom would take us to the Louisburg Cider Mill for the fall festival. We would get hot apple cider and get a doughnut to go with it. You dipped your doughnut in the cider and you were in heaven for just a few short moments. I wanted to try and recreate the experience. I researched, tried, and failed on many batches. I ended up taking a break on it for a few months because I got so frustrated. So I mixed some other things for a while, not thinking about it, but the hunger became too great and I started again. I even labeled the batches "Don't do this to yourself again, man" but I pressed on. After may more iterations I ended up creating a profile that wasn't really what I intended, but became all the more amazing.

A long time ago when I asked Enyawreklaw for help during a live mix he said that a recipe like this can be pretty hard to do, but if you do it right it'll be great. This is by far my best crack at it.

I present to you an apple cider bear claw that is simply delicious. On to the notes!

Doughnut Pastry Thing: Oh thank sweet baby Jesus for FA Zeppola, this was the flavor that actually made me start working on this recipe again. It works great as a start on a doughnut and doesn't have the jelly filling that FA Joy has at high %'s. It also gives a powdered sugar note that combines well with CAP CDS for a cinnamon sugar layer on it. Swapping from FW to JF Yellow Cake helps retain the greatness of FW, but doesn't kill your coils as fast. I was still going for the cake part of the doughnut so I kept it, but it plays really well with FA Joy and Zeppola. Just 2 drops/30ml of Joy brings it together

Dat Apple Cinnamon Doh: Creating something that realistically creates an Apple Cider profile is a huge pain in the ass. I tried a FA Fuji/FA Liquid Amber combo for a while, which worked okay, but still didn't bring it to where I wanted. When I first read that HS Apple Mix had an apple cider taste to it I immediately picked up some to try, and man did it make a difference. It definitely has an apple-cidery (is that a word?) taste on it's own, but it also has an almost cranberry taste to it, so I backed it up with a little bit of FA Fuji Apple to help keep it apple, and back off the cranberry. CAP CDS of course helps out the rest of the apple cinnamon flavor, at 2.5% it brings an up-front cinnamon flavor but you can consider backing it off to 2% if it's too strong.

The Fuck is TFA Dragonfruit Doing in Here?: TFA Dragonfruit is your friend. At low %'s it backs up apple cinnamon combos splendidly (Strawberries too!), it helps create a baked cinnamon-apple flavor and I highly suggest it in any apple-cinnamon recipe you are considering. this is also used at 2 drops/30ml

FA Meringue: Just 1% of this stuff creates the frosting and you are done. I hope you enjoy this recipe that's been an emotional roller coaster for me.

Be sure to leave your reviews on ATF, I'd love to hear feedback, constructive criticism, and suggestions on this since I've spent so much time on it.