1973 Apple Cake

The following went through my head while baking this cake:

This cake is going to be so good I should totally blog about it and about how I never really used to like baking...

Whenever I bake I remember my mother-in-law and I making cupcakes for my wedding.  She asked me to take over mixing with the hand mixer.  Thoughts of sunken, deformed cupcakes flashed through my head and I advised her that I should probably just stick with separating the baking cups.  She was very supportive of this decision.

Fortunately, I'm no longer afraid of baking--I'm pretty good at it in fact.  Shoot, I've even got a food blog now.  My apprehensions about baking have a few different causes, but mainly stem from a failed muffin project in my high school Foods class (think home ec, minus the sewing and ironing).  To make a long story short, my muffins 'peaked' and I failed.  Nevermind the fact that no high school senior in the 21st century should ever get an F for peaked muffins...I'm not sure what kind of world that woman was living in...

Shit I forgot the eggs.  [Calling my husband]  I've already added the flour, do you think it's ok to go back and mix the eggs?...no that won't work then the flour will get over-mixed.   [Travis] "Well I've never heard of over-mixing flour."  [Me]  You also didn't know how to properly measure flour, you thought you were supposed to scoop it with the measuring cup.  [Travis]  "I guess you'll just have to throw it out and start over."

Here's where you should imagine the sound of batter hitting the trash bag.  Then, I started again from the top and reentered the world of my thoughts once more...

The Muffin Mishap of 2004 left me scarred and ruined all potential for building baking self esteem.  Plus, baking is all about measuring correctly and mixing for a specified time...it's chemistry and my pyromaniac lab partner and I did not do so hot in that class either.  I'm not the follow-a-recipe type....

How long do I mix this for?  Oh no...wait, that looks ok.  It's gotta be ok because I'm out of applesauce.

Approximately two thirds of all my baking experiences follow this pattern.  I start to get cocky and then I get distracted and the next thing you know the eggs are omitted and the shortbread biscuits are soupy.  Second time is always a charm though, as was the case with this apple cake (so named because the recipe is from 1973).

1973 Apple Cake 
Adapted from The New York Times Magazine

Butter or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the pan
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 1/2 cups applesauce (no sugar added)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups peeled, cored, thickly sliced tart apples
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease & flour 9" bundt pan.  Beat applesauce & sugar together in mixer fitted with paddle attachment while assembling remaining ingredients.  After about 5 min, add the eggs & beat until mixture is creamy.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda.  Stir into batter.  Add vanilla, apples, walnuts, raisins & stir until well-combined.

Transfer to pan.  Bake 1 hr & 15 min.  Cool in pan before turning out. 

I made this cake to take to The Glowing Body's Customer Appreciation Party tonight.  We'll start the evening with kirtan by Sangita Devi and end up around the fire pit with dessert and wine.  Hope to see you there!

Let them eat it...

Yesterday was my birthday (and Ken Burns').  It was full of true friends and great food like gazpacho, spumoni, and saag paneer (not eaten simultaneously).  Also, Yoga Girl, a pipe cleaner person made by my friend Aaron, made an appearance at the dinner table and wowed us with her sweet skills and flexibility.  I hope to feature Yoga Girl on this blog in the near future.

One of the highlights of the big day was the cake my hubby made for me.  He used my recipe and a carton full of my favorite icing (props!).  We ate cake before dinner just to make sure we had enough room for dessert...we tend to gorge at Sitar.

Don't Grab My Bundt Cake

This is the easiest, most delicious chocolate cake you will ever barely stir!

2 c flour (use whole wheat!)

1 c sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

3 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c cocoa powder

2 c applesauce

1 tbsp vanilla**

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray bundt pan with cookie spray and dust with flour.

Sift together dry ingredients into large bowl.  Add applesauce and vanilla.  Using wooden spoon, mix until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 - 35 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for about 10 min in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

**There's plenty of room for substitutions here.  Instead of vanilla, you can use 2 tbsp of spiced rum or 1/4 tsp of cinnamon (sift cinnamon with dry ingredients).  Get crazy, the sky's the limit!

 

 

Travis used my favorite rainbow chip frosting for this special occasion.  Normally when I make this cake, however, I make my own:

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

2-4 c powdered sugar

1/2 c cocoa powder, sifted

Add ingredients to mixing bowl in the order they're listed above, waiting to add the next ingredient until the previous are combined.  How much powdered sugar you add depends on how sweet and how stiff you want the frosting (the more powdered sugar the easier it is to pipe).  If you added rum to the cake, you can also add 1 tbsp rum to the frosting.

What do you like to eat on your birthday?