When Michelle, The Accidental Scientist, announced a theme of holiday foods for the Ninth Heart of the Matter blog event, I knew just what I wanted to make for you.
About 10 years ago, when we lived in New Mexico, we had a lot of friends who were considerably older than we were. One of them had some heart problems and was forced to forgo many of the sweet treats he loved because they were so laden with eggs and cream and the sorts of things that one with heart troubles should be avoiding. Since I hate to see anyone miss out on tasty treats, I set myself to the task of making something he could have that didn’t taste like cardboard. That’s when I developed this recipe for what I called “Zero Fat Applesauce Spice Cake”.
The cake is extremely moist. In fact, you might prefer it with 1/2 c. less applesauce, but we loved the moistness because it almost seemed like it had frosting even without any warm applesauce or Light Cool Whip on top. Mike really enjoyed this cake.
The Husband, however, was a bit clueless about nutrition and thought ‘zero fat’ was synonymous with ‘zero calories’. Poor man thought he had struck a veritable dietary goldmine and was a bit disillusioned to learn that it still has a substantial amount of carbs and, therefore, calories. But he did mention this week, after learning I had baked this for a blog event and our family could actually eat this rather than it going to some live event, that the best part of my baking for my blog readers is you don’t actually consume any of it — so he gets it! 😉
Applesauce Spice Cake
2 c. flour
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
½ tsp. cloves
2 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 medium apples, shredded
3 egg whites
1 c. white raisins
Mix together and spread in 9×13 pan prepared with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 F about 25 minutes or until done. Serve topped with warm applesauce or apple syrup.
I haven’t tried it, but I would guess that you could use half whole wheat flour in this and it would still be grand. Happy holidays for your heart!
Filed under: Blog Event, Cake, Dessert, Fruit |
Fruit Tart 
Mmm…this looks good and moist.
This looks wonderful!
This recipe sounds great and I’m glad you decided to participate in HotM! I think we’re going to have this for breakfast on one of our days off this weekend (I know it’s dessert, but we’re bad like that!)
Claire & Ann: Thanks!
Michelle: We had some for breakfast too. It’s not much different than some muffin recipes I might give them! 😉
I can tell you that I will certainly make this cake soon. Thank you!
this has been bookmarked. thanks for a great recipe.