There was a reason why I finally decided to make my own applesauce after all this time – I had a “baking date” with a girlfriend last Saturday and we wanted to make something with apples to take advantage of the season. :-) We decided on the Applesauce Cake recipe (from the Martha Stewart website), which uses homemade applesauce. As much as I would like to rave about the cake, I can’t because frankly, all I could taste of the cake was the cardamom. Out of the four of us, two found the cake to be delicious as is while the other one thought that the spices used may be a little overwhelming for an average person. Personally, I think the cake has great potential (I love the moist and tender texture) – I would just ditch the spices or at least the cardamom next time. If you like lots of baking spices or herbs (even the stronger ones like rosemary) in your food, I think you will like the recipe the way it is. However, if you are like me where you tend to use “dessert/sweet” spices and herbs sparingly, I would recommend omitting or at least cutting the spices by half. The cardamom is expensive and costs about $15-$17 per bottle in a regular grocery store. If you just want to get a little to try, check out your local Whole Foods store. I bought mine at the bulk spices section – about two teaspoons worth for 36 cents. :-D I would also recommend storing unused cardamom in the freezer (in a freezer bag), and not the pantry because of its intense fragrance. I’m not giving up on the cake yet and am planning to bake it again (without the spices this time) this weekend. We’ll see how that goes. :-) Wish me luck!
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| Dry ingredients |
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| Butter, brown sugar, and honey |
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| Cream until light and fluffy and add eggs |
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| After adding flour mixture, beat in applesauce |
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| Pour batter in prepared pan |
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| Baked |
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| Cool |
3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1¼ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups Basic Applesauce (see my post on this recipe), or store-bought chunky applesauce
Nonstick cooking spray
Confectioners’ sugar, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1¼ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups Basic Applesauce (see my post on this recipe), or store-bought chunky applesauce
Nonstick cooking spray
Confectioners’ sugar, optional
The complete preparation method can be found on the Martha Stewart website.
what a moist looking cake – I would love a piece of this right now!
It was a moist and tender cake! I'm looking forawrd to tasting it without the spices. :-)