I think that cakes often get a bad rap.
They have this reputation for being a little time consuming to make and suitable for Sunday dinners and special occasions only.
But some of the best cakes out there are muffin-simple. Made with real butter and good stone-ground flour, they’ve got flavour to spare and have no need to be dressed with frosting.
Plus, there is only one easy pan to clean, not a dozen muffin cups.
Here’s a delicious cake that’s a synch to mix up and makes a wholesome treat. No occasion required.
I make this apple spice cake with stone ground flour and homemade apple sauce but it works just as well with conventional white flour and store-bought apple sauce.
It’s actually a gingerbread, sweetened with molasses and lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon. As gingerbreads go this one is on the gentle side, denser than hot water gingerbreads but mild in flavour. If you use stone ground flour it’s sweet, nutty flavour will shine through.
Serve this apple spice cake as a snack cake, tuck it in your kids’ lunchbox or sprinkle it with icing sugar and serve it as a dessert.
It’s that kind of cake – forever adaptable to the occasion.
Easy Apple Spice Cake
- 2/3 cup sugar (can be reduce to 1/2 cup)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (make your own from local apples)
- 1/3 cup Grandma Fancy Molasses
- 2 eggs well beaten
- ½ cup soft butter
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups flour (stone ground spelt or whole white, if you have it)
- In one bowl place sifted dry ingredients.
- In another bowl beat applesauce, molasses, eggs, and soft butter.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients.
- Beat well by hand or with an electric beater for 3 minutes.
- Pour into greased and floured 9″ round or square cake pan and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes then remove from pan to finish cooking.
- To serve, dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges.
Tip: line the pan with parchment paper for extra easy removal from pan.
If you love snack cakes you might like our whole wheat apple sauce cake recipe
One more thing…
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