Let them eat cake!

Hi, girls,

It's no wonder I'm as big as a house! Here I go baking again & we still have applesauce bread to eat!

But you know how it is when you want something chocolate...

This is a nice, basic cake. To me, it tastes better with the powdered sugar on top. I would definitely recommend some type of frosting. It is good enough to make again. :)

The recipe is from "mad hungry". She is connected with Martha Stewart.

Anyway, enjoy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking pan, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and coarse salt.

2. Make a well in center of flour mixture and add vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar, and cold water. Whisk until well combined. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Applesauce Nut Bread

Last night I baked this loaf of quick bread. The recipe is from bakingbites.com. It turned out great! I followed the recipe with only minor tweaks - I threw in 1/4 leftover crushed pineapples I had sitting in the fridge ,added 1 tea vanilla & changed it to 1 tea cinnamon.

The bread browns pretty quickly, so when the top was brown enough for me, I layed a piece of foil on top of it. Also, the directions say to lightly grease pan, which I did. Next time I will spray (Pam) it a little more. The bread tried desperately to stick to the pan. After I ran a knife around the edges, it came out.

I will keep this as a good go to bread recipe. I think it could be quite versatile. It's sturdy & moist. I liked it. Hope you do too.

Applesauce Nut Bread

6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
coarse sugar, for topping

No need to preheat the oven, just lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch baking pan (not a 9×5).In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the applesauce.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. By hand, or with a mixer on low speed, beat flour mixture into applesauce mixture. Stir in toasted nuts and pour into prepared pan. Top with coarse sugar, if desired.Place pan in a cold oven and turn oven on to 350F.Bake for 80-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the loaf is browned.Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 1 loaf.

Bagels - January Project

I am so excited to be a part of this baking group!!

http://havethecake.blogspot.com/

For my bagels I used the recipe found at bakingbites.com. Although I followed the recipe as written, I was very disappointed with the results. They certainly are no threat to the local Jewish deli!!

I was looking for that crispy outside & chewy inside. These did not have that. Sadly, there was no crispy outside.