Baked By Force

Like American heritage itself, the band American Heritage embraces diversity... At least as far as bass playing goes. On their latest release Sedentary, there is a different bass player for every song.
I guess when they were recording they didn't really have a bassist, so they recruited some of their friends to fill in.
Their guest bassists include Bill Kelliher (Mastodon) who plays on "Fetal Attraction," Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried at Sea, Twilight) who plays on "Vessels/Vassals," and Rafa Martinez (Black Cobra) (Yay!) who plays on "Morbid Angle."
Every guest brings something unique to each song, yet the album as a whole is consistently awesome.
They now have a permanent bassist named Erik Bocek. I saw them play with Sweet Cobra not that long ago, and they fucking killed it. This was a rare treat, as they don't play shows that often due to the fact that their drummer lives in Atlanta, and all the other band members live here in Chicago. Plus when Sweet Cobra got on stage, halfway into their first song, they blew the power for the entire block! Metal. Okay... Maybe it was just a random power outage, but I choose to blame the rock.
This recipe was voted on, and unanimously approved by 3/4 of the members of American Heritage while they were in their van, driving back to Chicago from Georgia.

Here's hoping it doesn't disappoint!

These apple pie cupcakes are as American as the brutal rock that inspired their creation.

American Heritage:
Baked By Force

Makes 24

Metal Constituents:

• 3 cups Cake Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 sticks Butter, room temperature
• 2 cups Sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 c Milk

For the Apple Pie Filling:

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 3 Large Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and diced

For the frosting:

• 2 1/2 sticks Butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

Merciless Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line 2 cupcake tins with baking cups, and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes or so.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Add vanilla extract, mix well.
6. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk - starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
7. Divide batter evenly between baking cups, filling about 2/3 full.
8. Force into your oven for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one cupcake comes out clean.
9. Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. To make the apple pie filling (this can be started while the cupcakes are in the oven): Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat.
11. Add cinnamon and sugar, and cook for 1 minute or until the mixture begins to bubble.
12. Lower heat to medium, and stir in diced apples.
13. Cook until the apples are somewhat tender, about 10 minutes.
14. Remove from heat, and allow to cool.
15. To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk butter until smooth.
16. Add powdered sugar and salt, continue to whisk for about another minute.
17. Add vanilla and heavy cream, whisk until well combined.
18. Increase speed, and beat until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes.
19. To assemble cupcakes: Insert a sharp knife at an angle about a 1/2 inch from the edge of the cupcake.
20. Cut a cone-shaped piece out of the center of each cupcake, leaving about a 1/2 inch of cake around the edge.
21. Remove Cake Cone, eat or discard.
22. Fill each hole with a heaping teaspoon of apple pie filling.
23. Frost completely cooled cakes.
24. God Bless 'Merica.

Here is some footage of American Heritage playing "Brootal: Axxes of Evil" (without a bassist) from their 2006 album, Millenarian. Enjoy!