There's a recipe in the back of one of Madeline's books for Applesauce cake. It sounded good, but pumpkin sounded even better and I had some pumpkin in the fridge I needed to use. And of course, for now if Madeline is able to eat what I make, it has to be made with an alternative flour - gluten free. I've only cooked with Almond meal so far. It's pretty good. It's not as fine as a flour. I'd like to try cooking with another flour soon, like coconut flour. I've got to practice making a gluten-free pumpkin pie soon! Anyway, here's the recipe, and also how I adapted it...
Applesauce Cake (pumpkin cake)
1/2 C butter (mmm...!)
1 C sugar (I used about 3/4 C brown sugar. You could use honey or maple syrup, or even molasses too)
2 eggs
1 1/4 C flour (I used 1 1/2 C almond meal)
1/2 t baking soda (almond meal doesn't rise like traditional flour does, so I upped this to just under 1 full teaspoon and I added just under a teaspoon of baking powder)
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t allspice (I ended up using 1/4 t ground ginger and 1/8 ground cloves)
1 C applesauce (again, I used pumpkin puree)
2/3 C raisins (I didn't add raisins. I feel they ruin a perfectly good recipe :) )
*There is a Butter Frosting recipe that you use to frost the cake, but I didn't do that.
Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to creamed mixture alternately with applesauce, beating after each addition and blending well. **I actually rarely do two separate bowls. I think it just takes too much time, so I just throw all the ingredients into one bowl and give it a good stir!** Stir in raisins. Pour batter into 9" greased tube pan. (I used a pie dish) Bake at 375F for 45 min or until browned. **Almond meal seems to cook slower than regular flour so you have to give it more time. I think it ended up taking just over an hour.
So - straight out of the oven, if you dish some up in a bowl, it hasn't set yet and seems more like bread pudding, and it actually tastes like delicious eggy, pumpkiny bread pudding. After it's cooled, it takes a little bit more shape and actually holds together when you cut it, verses needing to scoop it when it's warm. It still tastes like bread pudding, but it is slightly firmer. Almond meals stays WAY more moist than flour, in fact, I almost feel like you need to let your final product be exposed to the air and breathe a little, otherwise, sometimes it can stay so moist that it gets mushy.
FOR TONIGHT...
We've got leftover twice baked potatoes, and left over spaghetti squash, and for a protein, I'm going to throw a rub I made a few months ago that's in our pantry (don't remember what's in it) on some chicken breasts and grill them.
The green and yellow is for the Ducks. Even though I am not a huge football fan and actually would vote for the Beavers over the Ducks because of all my ties to OSU, I'll still be a supportive Oregonian and say "Go Ducks!"
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