We’ve updated this recipe from Aunt Elithe, my (Kate) grandma’s younger sister and an extra grandma to me. She and her husband, Uncle Roland, quietly supported me, especially when I was in high school and figuring out my interests. Uncle Roland saved me his copies of the Wall Street Journal, which I finally realized wasn’t my thing and gave up reading, but which also made me feel cared for and encouraged. When they learned I liked classical music, they sent me birthday cassettes that expanded my horizons. They knew I loved words, and gave me a dictionary as a graduation present. Remembering now how their kindness made me feel makes me want to be a more generous human.
In addition to the love, they gave me things I could hold in my hands--most of which people now access through technology. So here’s a recipe for something good to give that you can still hold in your hands (only a bit messy) and in your mouths and stomachs. It’s a good one for sharing because it travels well, stays fresh for several days, and makes two loaves. Also, the flavor. Each bite subtly conveys apple season and a bit of warmth. The cake tastes like the golden light that illuminates trees and so entrances us in the fall.
Applesauce Cake
2 medium to large tart apples (such as granny smith or braeburn), chopped into a 1/2-inch dice.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup coconut oil (also possible to use all butter or all oil, but we particularly like using both)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (you can heap the 1/4 teaspoon; a full 1/2 teaspoon is just a little too strong for us)
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)
1 cup pecans, toasted at 350 degrees for five minutes, then coarsely chopped
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 bread loaf pans.
Whisk or sift together flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about three minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed. Stir in the applesauce and vanilla, followed by the dry ingredients and apples. Spread into loaf pans and bake for one hour if you have wide loaf pans and 70–75 minutes if they are the more traditional size. Frost when completely cool (or a day later, or after freezing).
Add pecans to the top of the cake after frosting.
Notes: Although it isn’t hard to do, if browning the butter feels intimidating, you skip it and still enjoy a fantastic cake. You can even skip the frosting altogether and treat the cake like a sweet bread. Try toasting slices and spreading then with a little good butter or cream cheese. Or melt some cheese on top!
BROWNED BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
10 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted over very low heat until it turns a delicate brown color (we use either the 2 or the low setting on our gas stove)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 or 8 ounces cream cheese in a round container, room temperature (Tillamook makes a particularly fine spreadable cream cheese; Philadelphia whipped cream cheese also works.)
When the butter has turned a more golden shade of brown, and before it scorches on the bottom, remove it from the heat. During the melting and browning, if it becomes pretty hot or starts sizzling at all, let it cool for a bit. Pour the melted butter over the brown sugar and salt. Beat with a mixer until the texture is uniform. If it’s still quite hot, let it cool for ten minutes. Add the cream cheese and mix until creamy. Spread on top of the cooled loaves of applesauce cake. The frosting is sufficiently delectable that you might want to make even more of it and spread it on the sides as well as the top, and all over your fingers, and onto your tongue, but it’s also pretty flavorful, so you might be content with it only on the top.