I found this recipe on facebook on a page called Appalachian Americans. I think most of you would love this page. I do because it's just exactly like my people in the Quachita Mtns. in Arkansas. The speech, the old sayings, the traditions, all of it is the same and reminds me of my childhood. Since there are a few avid fruitcake lovers on here, I thought I would share.
I made this the same day it was posted. I added a teaspoon of salt and 2 tsps of vanilla. I didn't have allspice or cloves so subbed out two tsp. apple pie spice which contains both and also made it an even 5 tsps. of soda. I had my butter room temp and put in in the heated applesauce. I heated my applesauce to about the temp of a hot cup of coffee.
It is very good but makes a huge batch. I had the type pan she used but with my stove, I felt I needed something heavier so I used a heavy bundt pan and a heavy loaf pan. It's so good and everyone loves it...even the kids! You could easily turn this recipe into a fruit cake. It already has nuts and raisins. Some candied cherries and candied pineapple would put the finishing touches on it if you like fruit cake. It would make several small cakes or two in a bundt pan with the extra fruit. There is enough cake to easily support another 3 pounds of dried fruit. It makes a nice dark cake.
It took mine an hour and thirty minutes and I turned my oven down to about 325 degrees about halfway through but my stove is cast iron and steadily builds heat as it cooks. Also, I used standard measuring spoons but my mama also used the spoons we ate from to measure.
Everything from here forward is from the original poster.
Apple Sauce Cake
4 cups apple sauce
5 cups flour
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsps. baking powder
4 1/2 tsps. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. allspice
1 cup butter
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts
Heat applesauce, add soda and butter, sugar, flour, spices, raisins and nuts...350 degrees
My mother was famous for her applesauce cake, and she had a recipe from her mother. So some time as a kid, I took on the task of rewriting a bunch of recipes so they could still be read. Here's a gift for you all from my grandmother, who was born in 1888 in McDowell County, West Virginia, and whose parents came up there from Wilkes County, NC. My mom lined a tubed cake pan with waxed paper and baked this in that. We had one every Christmas and it was my favorite holiday cake. I am guessing you can start checking it at about 40 minutes in. It is a very dense and moist cake. It also freezes very well. My mother did not switch to standard measuring spoons until the late 1970s, so this would have been measured originally using the same spoons for eating and serving. The cloves would be ground cloves. I believe my mom baked it about 1.5 hours, but to be on the safe side I would start checking it every 15 minutes or so at about 45 minutes. It is a very dense cake so it wouldn't surprise me it goes to 1.5 hours.
I made this the same day it was posted. I added a teaspoon of salt and 2 tsps of vanilla. I didn't have allspice or cloves so subbed out two tsp. apple pie spice which contains both and also made it an even 5 tsps. of soda. I had my butter room temp and put in in the heated applesauce. I heated my applesauce to about the temp of a hot cup of coffee.
It is very good but makes a huge batch. I had the type pan she used but with my stove, I felt I needed something heavier so I used a heavy bundt pan and a heavy loaf pan. It's so good and everyone loves it...even the kids! You could easily turn this recipe into a fruit cake. It already has nuts and raisins. Some candied cherries and candied pineapple would put the finishing touches on it if you like fruit cake. It would make several small cakes or two in a bundt pan with the extra fruit. There is enough cake to easily support another 3 pounds of dried fruit. It makes a nice dark cake.
It took mine an hour and thirty minutes and I turned my oven down to about 325 degrees about halfway through but my stove is cast iron and steadily builds heat as it cooks. Also, I used standard measuring spoons but my mama also used the spoons we ate from to measure.
Everything from here forward is from the original poster.
Apple Sauce Cake
4 cups apple sauce
5 cups flour
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsps. baking powder
4 1/2 tsps. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. allspice
1 cup butter
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts
Heat applesauce, add soda and butter, sugar, flour, spices, raisins and nuts...350 degrees
My mother was famous for her applesauce cake, and she had a recipe from her mother. So some time as a kid, I took on the task of rewriting a bunch of recipes so they could still be read. Here's a gift for you all from my grandmother, who was born in 1888 in McDowell County, West Virginia, and whose parents came up there from Wilkes County, NC. My mom lined a tubed cake pan with waxed paper and baked this in that. We had one every Christmas and it was my favorite holiday cake. I am guessing you can start checking it at about 40 minutes in. It is a very dense and moist cake. It also freezes very well. My mother did not switch to standard measuring spoons until the late 1970s, so this would have been measured originally using the same spoons for eating and serving. The cloves would be ground cloves. I believe my mom baked it about 1.5 hours, but to be on the safe side I would start checking it every 15 minutes or so at about 45 minutes. It is a very dense cake so it wouldn't surprise me it goes to 1.5 hours.
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