I’m back! Sorry for the delay. Lately, cooking for me has been of necessity and not so much pleasure but I will get back into the swing of things soon, I promise.
I have been sitting on this cake for a while now. Actually, to be more accurate, pulling a slice from the freezer and defrosting it in the microwave and eating it with a contented sigh. This cake is good eaten while on the couch, and also in the great outdoors where two frozen slices were stashed in a backpack to be enjoyed at the halfway point of a 12km bush walk a few weeks ago. I ate the final slice last night while watching The Tudors (on the couch) so it was a prompt that I really should share this recipe with you. It’s absolutely delicious. I used the Apple Cake Spice from Gerwurzhaus and highly recommend it, or you could use a mix of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg which is in the original recipe. Like all good recipes, I read it in my favourite food blog Orangette and Molly found it somewhere else. Now it’s my turn to share it with you. Whose kitchen will this recipe end up in next?
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups applesauce (unsweetened)
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the glaze
- 55g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup icing sugar
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C and prepare your cake tin (I used a round one obviously!)
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and spices and mix well.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugars until light and creamy. Add in the applesauce, oil and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Lower the speed and gradually add the flour and mix until just combined. Use a spatula to do the final, gentle mix and then pour into your baking tin.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Prepare the glaze when your cake is cold. It’s hard to wait! Put a cooling rack onto of a baking sheet to catch the glaze drips and place your cake on top.
- Warm the butter, brown sugar, cream and salt in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for exactly one minute. Pull the pan off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Gradually beat in the icing sugar (you may not need it all) until you have a thickish glaze. Whisk until the sugar lumps have dissolved, which will happen with patience. Pour the glaze over the cake and serve when set.
