The only thing more wonderful than cooking for friends is cooking with friends. Kitchen Scoop reader Rick Herron of Corsicana, Texas, sent a delightful and unusual cake recipe, along with a wonderful story of friendship:
Dear Alicia,
I wanted to share with you a recipe for applesauce cake that my mom left me when she passed away. Her best friend, Betty, gave it to her in 1965.
Betty’s son and I went to elementary school together in Tulsa, Okla.
Betty was movie-star beautiful, with dark brown hair, flashing eyes and a perpetual smile on her face, and I was in awe of her. She loved to laugh … and cook, and when she made this cake once for my birthday, I was hooked.
It is so moist, thanks to the applesauce.
These days when I make it, all those wonderful memories of Betty and Mom laughing and cooking come flooding back.
Mom and Betty are gone now, but I think they’d be glad to know that people are still enjoying the cake as much as I do.
Rick Herron
Thanks, Rick. I think Betty and your mom just made a bunch of new friends with this cake!
Betty’s Applesauce Cake
1½ cups sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature (or ½ cup margarine and ½ cup shortening)
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. each of cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
2 tbsp. sugar, optional
Whipped cream for topping, optional
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream together 1½ cups sugar and butter (or margarine and shortening). Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Add applesauce and mix well.
Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and spices and mix slowly until well-incorporated; then mix on medium 30 seconds to blend well.
Pour into a buttered 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the entire cake. Sprinkle on pecans and sugar, if desired. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream on top, if desired.
Makes 12 servings.
Each serving has about 415 calories, 20 grams fat (12 grams saturated), 68 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams protein, 56 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams dietary fiber, 483 milligrams sodium.
Notes: The original recipe calls for margarine and shortening and another ½ teaspoon salt. I prefer butter and less salt. Also, I have indicated pecans and the additional sugar topping as optional. While I enjoyed the pecans tremendously, the sugar was not necessary to my mind. The same goes for the whipped topping; I loved my cake plain, without whipped cream. The analysis is with butter, less salt and without any optional toppings.
Alicia Ross is the co-author of three cookbooks. Contact her c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106, email tellus@kitchenscoop.com, or visit http://kitchenscoop.com.