recipe | chocolate chip applesauce cake

the case of the vanishing cake... I swear I made Applesauce Cake on Sunday, but I have no evidence left to back up my claim. Though, in the sink there is a suspicious looking empty baking pan with moist crumbles strewn about. Usually, around our house, cakes and cookies sit about getting stale prior to being thoroughly feasted on. That's why I'm so shocked that as of this morning, we're already ate the whole cake.

Applesauce Cake is another one of those happy childhood memories for me. I drift back to being ten and Mom making her Pennsylvania Dutch Applesauce Cake. I can still see that battered index card with the cut-out recipe pasted on to it. Just thinking of it makes me go "yummmmm".

So of course I'm pleasantly pleased that both my boys delighted in this weekend's cake. It is the perfect celebration of your freshly-picked orchard bounty. I made up my batch with some of the applesauce I jarred the other week. Here's a post from last year with my favorite applesauce recipe. Mind you, I did health up Mom's old recipe a bit with the addition of whole grains. My personal opinion is that you can forgo white flour all together in favor of whole wheat if interested. Next time I make this (which will probably be this weekend), I'm going to reduce the white flour and add in some spelt flour and double-up on whole wheat.

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cake

3/4 cup apples, diced

1 cup apple cider

1 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup flax meal or wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 cup applesauce

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

8 oz chocolate chips (personally recommend bittersweet chocolate)

Note: Best baking practices advise that you allow any cold ingredient like butter, eggs, and the applesauce to come to room temperature before adding.

Lightly grease a square 8"x8" baking pan. Preheat oven to 325º.

Mix together the diced apples and cider in a small saucepan. Simmer until the apples become mushy and takes on a sauce-like appearance. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

Whisk together in a medium bowl the flours and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg and salt. Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove and whisk until mixture lightens a bit. 30 seconds or so. Slowly whisk in the melted butter. Follow by gently mixing in the apple and cider mixture, applesauce, and vanilla.

Fold the flour mixture into the batter until just moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle a little sugar across the top if desired. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool to slightly warm prior to serving. Also, absolutely delicious cold straight out of the fridge.