Chocolate Applesauce Cake

For no apparent reason (as my son would say), yesterday was a cooking day.  And not just a cooking day....  a new recipe day!  Three new recipes in one day!

Breakfast was a baked oatmeal dish.  A cross between traditional oatmeal and a large oatmeal cookie, it was enjoyed by all.  Will blog about that another day when I remember to take photos.  Not that they'll be good photos- my cooking skills far exceed my photography skills.  But still, I'd like to give it a try.

Today's feature is the title- Chocolate Applesauce Cake.  The 'cake' part got the kids attention, as did the presence of Chocolate.  All good.

Bonus crumbs... the downside of slicing when warm.  The price I have to pay for impatience.

This one came from a gluten free recipe on araisinandaporpoise.com - the original flour was buckwheat.  I replaced the 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour with 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour.  The consistency of the batter and the finished product were exactly as expected.  I think the sugar can be reduced- I'll also make it next time as muffins.


Chocolate Applesauce Cake

• 1 cup nut butter (I used creamy peanut butter)
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used homemade applebutter)
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 and lightly oil a 10″ cake pan. A tube pan might be a nice alternative.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the nut butter, sugar, applesauce, eggs and vanilla and blend well together; I used an electric hand mixer.  
3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, then add to wet ingredients.  Mix together by hand until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the center springs back and the sides have just begun to come away from the pan.
5. This cake slices best when cool.  Excellent when served with a cold glass of milk.

After the cake cooled, I sliced the rest and wrapped each piece in wax paper and put them in my baking box.  This way, the kids (and husband) can take portions instead of ALL the remaining cake.

Yum.  I give the remaining 8 portions about a day.