September has arrived, with fall just around the corner. This means we can look forward to new produce arriving at our local markets including a wide variety of apples, fresh figs, grapes, pumpkin, quince, and pears. Many years ago, I posted my favorite way to prepare applesauce which involves roasting the apples, bringing out and enhancing the best flavor possible. One of my favorite recipes to use this delicious Roasted Applesauce is in this rustic applesauce cake, which is delicious for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
 I leave my applesauce slightly chunky, which gives the cake a nice texture, but if you prefer, simply puree the applesauce until smooth. I like a cake such as this one to be finished simply with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, but it would also be wonderful, lightly glazed. You can make an excellent glaze for this cake by mixing apple juice with powdered sugar until you get a smooth consistency, and then simply drizzle this glaze over the cake.
You can also add chopped nuts or raisins to this cake, although I was making it recently for my grandchildren who prefer things plain, so I left all additional additives out for the cake shown in the photos. I also usually substitute some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour or white spelt flour to increase the nutritional value, as shown in the recipe below, but you could also simply use just all-purpose flour if you prefer.
I used dark brown sugar in my version as I prefer the caramel flavor a darker sugar adds, but light brown sugar works fine. This cake also calls for a small amount of honey in the list of ingredients, and I like to use hearty flavored honey such as chestnut honey in my cake, but any variety included simple clover honey works fine.
Buon Appetito!
Deborah MeleÂ
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Softened Butter
- 2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)
- 1/4 Cup Honey (See Notes Above)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 Cups Roasted Applesauce
To Serve:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch tube or bundt pan.
- Whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in one bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter together with the brown sugar and honey until light and fluffy with a hand mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla until well mixed.
- Stir in the applesauce, then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat with the hand mixer on low speed just until combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes then invert onto a cake plate and cool to room temperature.
- Lightly dust with the powdered sugar before serving.