Name: Parkrose Permaculture’s Applesauce Cranberry Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1 cup Vegetable Shortening; 2 cups Sugar; 2 Large Eggs; 1.50 cups Whole wheat flour; ½ tsp Salt; 2 tsp Baking soda; 2 tsp Cinnamon; ½ tsp Ground Cloves; 2 tsp Ground Allspice; ¼ tsp Nutmeg; ¼ tsp Mace; 2 cups HOT unsweetened applesauce (you can microwave this to warm it till steamy); 1.50 cups Chopped Walnuts; 1.50 cups Chopped Fresh or Dried Cranberries

This is my favorite baking book. My mother gave it to my husband for Christmas one year when we were still dating. I bake from it at least once a week. After Martha, it’s my old standby for great recipes (A Little Warning: I have found several recipes that did not work out well the first time and needed quite a bit of tweaking, so my book is full of notes and corrections. If you’re not an experienced baker, this book may disappoint because your recipe may not rise or set or fit in the pan, or might be too spicy or runny! That being said, the concepts are great, even if many of the proportions are wonky, and there may be an updated and revised edition – my copy is 10 years old.)
We attend a book study on Tuesday nights, and I always try to bake dessert. There are lots of little children, so I try to bake something I can rationalize as “nutritious” (pumpkin bread, banana cookies, etc).

This week, I made a seriously tweaked recipe, inspired by the Hot Apple Sauce Cake in Fannie Farmer. My rationale for calling it a healthy dessert? My version contains applesauce, cranberries, whole wheat flour, and walnuts (optional -I left them out this time due to nut allergies in some folks at the study). Also, the frosting (not from Fannie Farmer) contains no refined sugar – only honey (I’ll post that next time).

Parkrose Permaculture’s Cranberry Applesauce Cake (inspired by a recipe in the Fannie Farmer Baking Book)

AuthorAngela BakerDifficultyBeginner

Yields8 Servings

Prep Time15 minsCook Time40 minsTotal Time55 mins

1 cup Vegetable Shortening

2 cups Sugar

2 Large Eggs

1.50 cups Whole wheat flour

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking soda

2 tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Ground Cloves

2 tsp Ground Allspice

¼ tsp Nutmeg

¼ tsp Mace

2 cups HOT unsweetened applesauce (you can microwave this to warm it till steamy)

1.50 cups Chopped Walnuts

1.50 cups Chopped Fresh or Dried Cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line two 9-inch baking pans with parchment or wax paper.

2. Cream the shortening and sugar, beating until fluffy and smooth.

3. Add the eggs and beat well

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, salt, soda, and spices. Slowly mix into the creamed mixture, alternating with the hot applesauce. Fold in berries and nuts.

5. Split batter evenly into the two 9" pans.

6. Bake 9-inch layers for about 40 min, or until the skewer comes out clean.

Let rest for at least 5-10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack - be careful, the cakes are very moist and tender from all of the applesauce.

Cool fully before frosting.

Ingredients