Ginger, Apples, Lemon, Pepper - Baked into a Cake
It's a perfect applesauce day, and the kitchen has been perfumed with the good scent of apples slumping into sauce, sending out little hints of lemon and cinnamon.
With the sauce made, I couldn't help myself; I used some of it to bake this cake. It's a good keeper, and will make a find snack over the coming days when the light leaks out of the sky too early, slamming us into night before I'm really ready. Besides, there are days when I'd bake this cake for the pure pleasure of the aroma.
When I was working on My Kitchen Year, I decided to put all the recipes in classic form, just in case the publishers balked at the conversational tone at the last minute. Happily, they didn't; I much prefer the relaxed fashion of the recipes in the book. But for those who'd rather have marching orders, here they are.
Applesauce
4-6 apples, peeled and cored
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons water
1 stick of cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
Cook the apples with the lemon juice, water, cinnamon stick, and sugar in a medium saucepan, uncovered, until the apples are soft enough to mash with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and season with more sugar to taste.
Gingered Applesauce Cake Glazed with Caramel
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
Break two eggs into a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar and the brown sugar. Add the grated ginger and the applesauce. Whisk in the oil and vanilla and mix until it is smooth.
Whisk the baking soda, salt, pepper, cinnamon and clove into the flour in a small bowl. Mix this gently into the applesauce mixture.
Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until it is set.
Cool the cake for 15 minutes on a rack before turning it out and allowing it to cool. Make sure the cake is completely cool before glazing it.
Glaze:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla.
Put the cream in a small heavy-bottomed pot. Whisk in the sugar, salt and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to boil for about 15 minutes, whisking every few minutes.
When the the glaze has come together into a smooth, thick caramel remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Put the cake, still on the rack, over a sheet of wax paper. Carefully pour the glaze over the cake.