Whole Grain Applesauce Cake

This cake was lovely. This glaze was unbelievable. If I make it again (and I'm pretty sure I will), I would use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour, so as to increase the cohesiveness of the cake. But the taste was great.

I'm still working on my glazing technique. Mine was messy but delicious. 

The glaze was much easier to make than I would have thought a glaze to be. It has an ungodly amount of powdered sugar that I don't want to talk about. All I want to say is that it tasted to good, I couldn't believe I'd actually made it.  

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Whole Grain Applesauce Cake from Chocolate & Carrots (that's a blog name; there is no chocolate or carrot in this cake) and from Texanerin.

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat or whole spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 large eggs
3/4 cup olive oil – I used extra-virgin
1 cup unrefined or brown sugar
1 3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon sugar:
3 tablespoons unrefined or granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Caramel glaze:
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 – 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (unless yours is already lump free)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice.

2. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the eggs a little. Add the olive oil and sugar and mix. Then add the applesauce and vanilla extract.

3. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir. But just until combined!

4. Spray a 12 cup / 10″ bundt pan with cooking spray. Be sure to spray it very well. Then mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle the mix in the pan. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. This recipe can also be halved and baked in a 6 cup bundt pan, which is what I always do. If using a 6 cup bundt pan, bake for about 27 – 30 minutes.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn it out onto a rack and let it cool completely before glazing.

6. For the glaze: Put the butter, brown sugar, cream and salt in a saucepan at medium heat. Stirring constantly, bring it to a full rolling boil. Let it boil for one minute and then take it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat it until it’s very smooth and  there are no lumps. Pour over the cake.

Source: cake from Erin from Texanerin Baking; the caramel glaze recipe came from The Runaway Spoon.