Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using

apple sauce Apple sauce is a purée (not necessarily served as a true sauce) made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and can be spiced or sweetened. Apple sauce is inexpensive and is widely consumed in North America and some parts of ...

, flour and sugar as primary ingredients. Various spices are typically used, and it tends to be a moist cake. Several additional ingredients may also be used in its preparation, and it is sometimes prepared and served as a

coffee cake Coffee cake can refer to: * Coffee cake (American), a sweet bread typically served with coffee but not typically made with coffee as an ingredient or flavoring * Coffee-flavored cake, such as coffee and walnut cake See also * Tea cake * Tea ...

. The cake dates back to early

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

in the United States. National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6 in the U.S.

History

The preparation of applesauce cake dates back to early

in the

New England Colonies The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived c ...

of the northeastern United States. From 1900 to the 1950s, recipes for applesauce cake frequently appeared in American cookbooks. In the United States, National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6.

Ingredients and preparation

Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using

, flour and sugar as main ingredients. Store-bought or homemade applesauce may be used in its preparation. Additional ingredients include eggs, butter, margarine or oil, raisins, dates, chopped apple, chopped nuts (such as walnuts and pecans), cocoa powder, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Some versions include dried or fresh, finely grated

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

. After baking, applesauce cake is sometimes topped with an icing, frosting or glaze, such as a caramel glaze. It also may be served topped with a dusting of

confectioner's sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar and icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent—such as corn starch, potato s ...

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

Gluten-free A gluten-free diet (GFD) is a nutritional plan that strictly excludes gluten, which is a mixture of prolamin proteins found in wheat (and all of its species and hybrids, such as spelt, kamut, and triticale), as well as barley, rye, and oats. ...

applesauce cake can be prepared using rice flour. Egg-free applesauce cake can be made by using an

egg substitute An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

. Applesauce cake tends to be moist due to the liquid content present in the apple sauce. However, using a chunky-style apple sauce can result in a cake with less moisture than from using standard apple-sauce. Letting it sit for one or two days before serving can increase its flavor, as this allows time for the ingredients to intermingle within the cake. It can be prepared using various types of

cake pan Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

s, such as a ring-shaped

bundt cake A Bundt cake () is a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive donut shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as , but Bundt cakes are not generally associated with any single recipe. The style of mo ...

using a bundt pan, in loaf form using a loaf pan, or as a

sheet cake Sheet or Sheets may refer to: * Bed sheet A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, b ...

with a sheet cake pan. Applesauce cake is sometimes prepared in the form of

cupcake A cupcake ( AmE, CanE), fairy cake ( BrE), or bun ( IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting, icing and various other cake decorations such as ...

Variations

Applesauce cake may be prepared and served as a type of

, which may include a sweet crumb topping. Simple versions may be prepared using prepared coffee cake mix, apple sauce, and other various ingredients. Fruits such as blueberries, cranberries and raisins may also be used in applesauce coffee cake. File:Applesauce walnut coffee cake.jpg, A close-up view of applesauce walnut

File:Applesauce cupcakes with icing.jpg, Applesauce cupcakes with icing

History

Ingredients and preparation

Variations

See also

Notes

References

Further reading