Apple Harvest Cake

We had a busy weekend. Saturday my son and I spent the day in Moscow, Idaho. We started by dropping off our Farmer's Market prototypes for a jury process and spent the time wandering downtown before going back to pick the items up. We came up with some great ideas and found some wonderful stores (the buy local promotion was hosting a scavenger hunt to find local businesses). We tried kumquats for the first time and something called a mandinquat (or something like that). We aren't fans but I'd still like to try making jam or something from kumquats. While out and about we stopped at the Co-op and checked out the meat department. I like stopping in grocery stores to browse because it helps me plan my next shopping trip and there's no real pressure at that time. The guy at the meat department was more than willing to give me a tour of their products. He gave me more information than I could possibly hold but what I learned most was how affordable the prices were. The hamburger is $2.89 a pound and he told me if I buy 3 family packs I can get them for $2.59 a pound. What a bargain for locally grown meat (some is organic but I can't remember what). I rarely stop in the meat department there because I knew I couldn't afford it but taking the time to learn about their meat I discovered I could afford it and I'm happy.
For lunch I made bacon fajitas. We had bacon in the fridge so I thought I'd chop that up with some onions and peppers and serve in corn tortillas. I dowsed the filling with lime juice just before scooping it up into warm tortillas.
We made popcorn for a snack. My mom had this idea of using a spray bottle for me to add butter to my popcorn. I decided that using oil would be better because all I really want is a way to get the seasoning to stick. It worked wonderfully. I air popped the popcorn, spritzed it with oil and sprinkled on some msg and cajun seasoning. I like the flavor of the msg but I over guessed on the cajun seasoning and ended up with spicy popcorn which was really tasty.
Sunday I spent baking. I do have lots of recipes to share. Today I'm sharing the Apple Harvest cake - what a great moist cake. It's not a huge cake - makes 1 pan but it's tasty.
I substituted the egg for 3 tablespoons applesauce, mostly because I had some leftover applesauce and I wanted to try using the oil instead of butter in a cake. I did make the rum glaze with whole milk and nucoa (since that's all we have). The only problem was it kept seperating. I don't know if it will have that problem with butter and half n half but I just had to make sure to shake the container before pouring it over the cake. Also, I didn't have any nuts.

Apple Harvest Cake with Rum Glaze
2 c. Chopped peeled apples
1 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg (or 3 TB applesauce)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1/2 c. flaked coconut
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. half & half
1/4 c. rum (spiced is better)
Cake: Mix together apples and sugar, let stand a few minutes until juice forms. Sift together dry ingredients and add to apples. Mix in oil, vanilla, egg, nuts, and coconut. Bake in a greased 8x8 pan at 350 deg for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with rum glaze. Rum glaze: Heat sugar, butter and half & half on stove, stir until smooth then add rum.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies

I wanted to name these cookies Sunday Morning Breakfast Cookies but my husband didn't like the name. I loved it until I had a cookie the next day. The flavor just didn't stay the way I wanted it to so that whole Sunday morning feel was kind of gone. That's not to say the cookies weren't good because they are great. They are tasty and healthy which is the best combination you could have. I made these rather plain but they would benefit from some nuts and dried fruit (maybe even a chocolate chip or two).
I developed these cookies when my Dad said he needed a dessert for an activity. I made him some mint chocolate chocolate chip cookies so I didn't want to make something with chocolate to go with them. I wanted something different. We've been experimenting with applesauce chocolate chip cookies but why not try applesauce oatmeal cookies. The end result was great. They are sweeter than I expected them to be and, even with all the cinnamon, not overly spicey. They have great texture and are already on their way to being a family favorite. I dipped the cookies in a glaze made from orange juice and powdered sugar. I found that while the glaze added so much flavor when I first dipped, after the glaze dried all the orange flavor went away. I didn't measure the sugar when I made the glaze so I have no recipe to share for that but I don't really think the cookies need the glaze to taste good.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
2 1/2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TB molasses
2 eggs
2 teas vanilla
2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas nutmeg
1 teas baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour
5 cups oatmeal
In a large bowl, mix together applesauce and sugar. Add the molasses and beat well before adding in the eggs. Add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda. Mix until all incorporated. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Applesauce cake

I'm sitting here eating cheese, crackers and pickled pears playing on the computer when I remembered I still hadn't posted today's recipe. Last weekend I decided to make a cake with just fruit - no sugar, no oil. I ended up skipping the eggs too. The only fat that comes from the cake is in the Walnuts and the sugar is all fruit based. It's not an overly sweet cake and has that slightly gritty texture of pears. It's rather dense and not very flavorful. That would seem like a poor description for a cake but what I found is this cake is the perfect base to showcase a great topping. Hot out of the oven we served it with a little bailey's irish cream and a few chocolate chips. Today I ate it with a "frosting" of all natural chocolate peanut butter. Add a little rum when the cake first comes out of the oven to help preserve the cake and extend it's shelf life. I put a little cocoa powder in the cake, I'm not sure how much flavor it lends. Feel free to add spices such as ginger and cinnamon to make it more gingerbread like (might be the next version).

Applesauce Cake
3 cups applesauce
6 cups apple or pear juice boiled down to 4 cups
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas baking powder
2 TB dark rum (or vanilla extract)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Extra Rum, optional
Mix apple sauce and juice. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well. Add extract or rum and walnuts. Mix until incorporated. Pour into greased 9x13 pan (we used a cooking spray). Bake at 350 for 60 to 75 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. The cake is so moist that the toothpick will not be completely clean. Drizzle over rum (or other alcohol). Serve hot or cold.

Chocolate Applesauce Jar Cake

I'm just posting a recipe today. I'm working half day today and then my afternoon is filled with various appointments so I'll be on the run. I know I had three recipes for Jar Cakes but for the life of me I can't find number three. I just remembered what it was so maybe I can find it for Monday. This is a tasty cake but I do want to mention that the jar cakes are a little on the dry side so a little extra applesauce will not hurt (and the reason for serving with a good sauce over the top).

Chocolate Applesauce Jar Cake
4 oz + 3 tbs. unsalted butter, soft
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1 teas almond extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
8 pint jars
Preheat oven to 325, generously grease jars. Beat butter and 1/2 sugar, beating in eggs and remaining sugar and extracts. Beat in applesauce. Add dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Spoon 1 cup batter in each jar. Carefully wipe rims clean, place in center of oven, cook 40 minutes. 10 minutes before done prep lids and rims. When cakes are done, remove jars from oven. Carefully put lids and rims in place, screw tightly shut.