by Maxine Troxell
Christmastime is almost here. Time to start to think of all the holiday goodies you will be baking this year, from cookies to cakes and all kinds of spicy goodies. Growing up, my mom would make all kinds of cakes. My mom and all her sisters were great bakers. I always loved applesauce cake with all the spices, raisins, and nuts. I found the recipe below in a cookbook from Damascus in the late 1980s or early 1990s. I do not remember what organization it was in, but I did copy the recipe and have used it as entries in the Community Show. It has won a lot of blue ribbons. This cake is so easy to make because there are no eggs, and you just put all the ingredients, except the raisins and nuts, into a mixing bowl. I am a fan of fruitcake, so if you like candied fruit, you can add candied fruit to the raisin and nut mixture. At Christmastime, I like to decorate it with candied cherries and nuts. If you use a Bundt pan to bake the cake, you can put the candied cherries and the walnuts in the grooves in the bottom of the pan.
Applesauce Cake
4 cups ( minus ¼ cup for raisins and nuts) all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup butter (melted)
2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups applesauce
1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour 10-inch tube or Bundt cake pan. Mix all ingredients except raisins and nuts. In a small bowl, combine raisins and nuts. Add ¼ cup flour to raisins and nuts to coat. Add the raisin and nut mixture to cake batter. Using a spatula, fold raisin and nut mixture in until mixed through. Bake in pre-heated oven for 1 to 1½ hours (until toothpick inserted comes out clean).
Remove cake from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto cooling rack. When cake is cool, sift powdered sugar on top. Keep cake in an airtight container. To keep cake moist, you can wrap cake
in a cheesecloth soaked with cooking sherry.
