eggless applesauce cake

Looks great. Any suggestions for the best sized pan to use?

You know, I just copied and pasted it quickly from an email. I will ask my friend.

Most of my cakes with 3 cups of flour make a 9x12. Maybe this can even go in a bundt? I will get back to you! becca

becca -
Thanks for posting this! I am in a baking mood lately, and this sounds like a quick fix. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Sue

My friend used a 9x9 pan. Square she said and guessed 9x9. Sounds about right.

I use cloves in my zucchini bread, and it is very nice. I think the children will really like this one and I know dh will. He loves cloves. becca

[This message has been edited by becca (edited September 15, 2005).]

This is my original version of above recipe -- tried and true for generations as it was my Granny's recipe from homesteading days in Colorado. I added my notes & substitutions at the end.

[b] Applesauce Cake (Cocoa Version)

2/3 cup melted lard
1 cup sugar

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
3 heaping Tbsp. Hershey's cocoa

1 cup raisins

1+ cup applesauce
2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease & flour 9x13 baking pan.
Combine shortening & sugar in large bowl. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add dry ingredients alternately with applesauce (in 1/3's). Stir in raisins. Stir in soda mixture.

Pour into pan & bake for about 25 minutes.

Cool & frost with vanilla buttercream or cocoa buttercream icing.

NOTES: Can sub Crisco or other solid shortening for lard. (Lard once a year won't kill you!) [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
I am heavy-handed on spices and cocoa, so I increase those & then bump up the applesauce some. I use unsweetened applesauce for this cake, but my mom always used the old-fashioned sugar-added kind & it worked fine.[/b]

I love this eggless recipe because we can eat the batter without salmonella fear from raw eggs!

I think I use the Betty Crocker Cocoa Butter frosting recipe -- something like the following:

[b] Cocoa Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup + Hershey's cocoa, sifted
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. milk (approx.)
dash salt [/b]

Happy baking, all!

Think of what a special treat this cake was after a looooong day haying. My mom (at age 8) was in charge of the whole meal for family & hands **EXCEPT for the cake**. Granny would come in from the field & bake cake as the ingredients were too dear to waste if cake was a flop. The wood-burning stove was too fickle for 8 year-old to manage successfully. They did not frost the cake. Ate it plain & enjoyed every morsel.

-- Elizabeth

[This message has been edited by ajas_folks (edited September 15, 2005).]

Quote:Originally posted by becca:
[b]Nana's Applesauce Cake
Mix everything together and cook at 350 for ~50
minutes.

[/b]

FYI, Eventhough your recipe version calls for more applesauce than the version I posted, this baking time of 50 minutes seems awfully long. This cake dries out quickly if overbaked . . . Just thought I'd point that out for anyone trying this cake for first time! Toothpick inserted into center & coming out clean works great on this cake as far as testing for doneness.

Elizabeth

[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] Thank You [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

I just made Becca's version and used her timing in a 9X12 pan and it is lovely.

I think I might eliminate the cloves so it comes out a bit lighter but it was not overbaked or dry at all. I might try pumpkin pie spice instead but we'll see it was nice the way it was and the house smells great.

Very good. I always wanted an apple spice cake recipe. Peg

Elizabeth, the cocoa in your cake, combined with a solid shortening or lard, and less liquid would all make for a dryer cake. It seems like quite a different end product, but interesting recipe as well.

So glad to hear someone tried it and it was good. My friend was very clear about the square pan, but she could not give directions. Had to be the 9x9 as opposed to a smaller 8x8, especially if Pegs was fine in a 9x12.

I know I need extra time on my eggless cakes with oil and water in them. They never dry out(the basic FAAN recipes).

Happy baking. I am all baked out. Dd's B-day, and we did the family cake tonight and a big cake for the party tomorrow! Up to my eyeballs in frosting. becca

becca -- I'm so curious how these 2 cakes compare side by side -- now I just need an event to bake 2 cakes for! I would think golden raisins would be pretty in your recipe?

There must have been a baking reason as to why the cocoa cake recipe pre-dissolves the soda in hot water. (Shorten baking time in wood stove?? Anyone know?) Also, the shortening in my cocoa cake is melted, which I would think would shorten necessary baking time.

Do you have any idea why your recipe calls for "cold" applesauce? Anyone else familiar with old-fashioned recipes & why certain ingredients were used & in what forms or temps?

If it were a cool, autumn day here I would spend it baking & playing . . . but it's going over 100 again today & I cannnot make myself run the oven.

Looking forward to cooler days & yummy scents wafting from kitchen! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
Elizabeth

LOL, Elizabeth. You analyze recipes like I do!

This is *not* my recipe, BTW, so I don't want to steal the credit. I have never even tried it yet! My next door friend/neighbor just emailed it to me since I have a need for egg free recipies. She had just made it and said it came out very good. It is a longtime favorite recipe through generations in her dh's family! Tried and true, it sounds! becca

I assume it is unsweetened applesauce for the recipes. Is that correct?

Here is another eggless applesauce cake recipe:

Cream together 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 3/4 cup brown sugar.

Add 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup applesauce, 1 tsp cinammon and 1 tsp baking soda and mix until just combined.

Put in greased and floured 8 x 8 pan and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Or, use muffin tins (makes 12) and bake for about 20 minutes.

This recipe doubles well. I often double it, make 24 muffins and freeze them after baking, as they freeze very well.

I can't wait to try the other recipes. I'm distressed about the egg labeling on the Barilla pasta so I am very happy to have good egg-free news!

Just raising to say I have made the original recipe I posted at the start of this thread a few times and it is great. Comes out very moist, and worked great in a bundt pan and as muffins/cupcakes. I had never tried it at the time I posted it. becca