Vintage Applesauce Cake Recipe Is Straight From Granny's Recipe Box by Terri Kendrick

Unlike most grandmothers, my Granny was not a baker. When holiday time rolled around, she’d make the turkey, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, etc., but she’d buy her pies from the local bakery. And I don’t recall ever eating cookies or cobblers that she made! So, when I stumbled upon this recipe (or “receipt” as Granny called it) for an applesauce cake in her distinctive handwriting and written on the back of a yellowed envelope, I knew it was quite the find!

Like my grandmother, I’m not a baker either (much to my husband’s dismay!). However, giving this applesauce cake recipe a whirl felt like fate the other day when I realized that I had every single ingredient. I even had crushed pineapple left over from a JELL-O salad that I never made a few years ago (hope canned fruit doesn’t expire!). It also looked relatively easy – mix up a few ingredients and bake – so I pulled out my measuring cups, mixing bowls and bundt pan and got to work.

The applesauce cake was deliciously aromatic while baking and cooked in exactly 60 minutes as the recipe indicated. Coming out of the oven mid-morning, my husband and I got to enjoy a rare treat: lunch dessert. We both agreed that Granny’s applesauce cake recipe was a keeper!

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 75 minutes
Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 16 ounces applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 box golden raisins
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• nuts and cherries (optional)

Recipe Notes

• I used cinnamon applesauce, so I cut the cinnamon back to 1 teaspoon.

• If you use salted butter (that’s all I ever buy!), eliminate the salt.

• The recipe didn’t mention what to do with the butter, so I cut it in little cubes and let it soften a bit on the counter, but apparently not long enough because I had a hard time getting the chunks to mix in. I used a potato masher to attempt to incorporate it. After some googling, I’ve learned that you need to let it sit out for an hour or two to soften. You can also grate butter or roll it out with a rolling pin to cream it.

• I've found old recipes are notoriously incomplete or unclear. For example, this one called for 3 to 4 teaspoons of baking soda. I split the difference and used 3 1/2 teaspoons.

• I substituted regular raisins for the golden ones. For nuts I used chopped walnuts.

Here’s how to make it:

1. Cook raisins in a small amount of water on the stovetop for 10 to 15 minutes to get them nice and soft. Let cool and drain.
2. Mix the flour, sugars, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a large mixing bowl. 
3. In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the drained pineapple and softened butter. 
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
5. Stir in the raisins, nuts and cherries, if using.
   
6. Pour the batter into a greased bundt pan.
   
    
7. Bake in a preheated 300-degree F oven for about 1 hour.
   
   

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