Yumo Apple Cider Cakes with Apple Bark

This was meant to be a donut recipe but I didn't have a donut pan so we made patty cakes. I also dont know where to get cider so I had to make my own so I will add that recipe as well. 
This recipe is care of Alanabread 
http://www.alanabread.com/2011/10/apple-cider-baked-goods-apple-cider-glaze-apple-bark/

APPLE CIDER BAKED GOODS + CIDER GLAZE + APPLE BARK

Apple cider baked goods (from Diana’s Desserts)

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/3 cup maple syrup (or maple flavoured syrup)

1/3 cup good quality apple cider

1/3 cup vanilla yoghurt

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Apple cider glaze

1 cup icing sugar mixture

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup good quality apple cider

Apple bark

1 apple

sprinkling of cinnamon

For the apple cider baked goods

1. Preheat oven 180°C.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In another bowl combine wet ingredients; beaten egg, brown sugar, apple sauce, maple syrup, apple cider, yoghurt and vegetable oil. Give them a quick whisk then add your bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk until just combined.

4. Divide your mixture between pans/tins of your choosing. For a donut pan bake for 10 minutes, for mini donuts and baby cupcakes bake for 5-7 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched.

5. After 5 minutes transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

For the apple glaze

1. Combine icing sugar, cinnamon and cider in a small bowl and stir well to remove any lumps.

For the apple bark (do this the morning before)

1. With a sharp vegetable peeler peel thin strips of apple, including the skins, and place on a baking tray. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

2. Bake in a cool oven (around 80-100°C) until completely dried, between 2 -3 hours. (If you are doing this day before you may need to re-crisp your apple bark for half an hour before assembling). Once dried, the apple skins will shrink and curl like little twigs. The apple strips will look like leaves.

For the assembly

1. Hold your baked good up-side-down and dip into the glaze. Shake of any excess and place back on the wire rack. Take a piece of apple bark and place on baked good while the glaze is still wet so it stays in place once dried. Continue with the rest of your donuts and baby cupcakes.

The Apple cider Recipe

8 -10 apples
1/2-1 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise 

4 whole nutmeg

Directions:

1
Quarter your apples (no need to remove peel or seeds).
2
In a large stock pot add your apples and fill with water--just enough to cover the apples.
3
Add your sugar.
4
Wrap your cinnamon and allspice in a doubled up cheese cloth and tie, and add this to the apples and water.
5
Boil on high for one hour (uncovered) checking on it frequently.
6
Turn down heat and let simmer for two hours (covered).
7
Take off the heat after two hours of simmering and let cool.
8
Remove spices and mash up the apples to a pulp like consistency (a potato masher works well for this).
9
Once cool pour into a strainer over a large bowl. When most of the juice has drained away, put the remainder of the pulp into a doubled up cheese cloth and squeeze over the bowl until no more juice comes out.
10
(At this point you can either restrain the juice to get out the little bits of pulp that remain with a cheese cloth draped inside the strainer to catch them or just leave it like I do).
11
You can store in an air tight container in your refrigerator for up to a week or you can freeze it for later use if you like.