Applesauce Cake

Hi guys!

The weekend has just started and I love nothing more than a good cake to ring it in. At the moment, I love cakes that have a little fruit inside so I wanted to try this recipe for an applesauce cake from Cynthia Barcomi's "Backbuch" or "baking book" in its translation.

Here's the recipe:
185g (6.5 oz; 1 + a little less than 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
70g (2.5 oz) cornstarch
1 teaspoon cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
200g (7 oz; a little less than 1 cup) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar cane syrup or golden syrup
250ml (8 fl. oz; 1 cup) applesauce
110g (4 oz) walnuts
75g (2.6 oz) dried cranberries, optional
75g (2.6 oz) dried raisins
100g (3.5 oz) white or dark chocolate, optional

1) Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Mix the flour, cornstarch, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt together. Chop the chocolate and add if you're using it. Chop the walnuts, raisins and cranberries if you're using them. 

2) Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl with a hand mixer or a kitchen machine until pale and creamy, about 6 minutes. Add the eggs and syrup and beat until the whole mixture is very fluffy. Mix in the applesauce. Now add the combined dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. At last, fold in the walnuts, raisins and cranberries. 

4) Grease a loaf cake tin or springform tin (26 cm or 10 inches) or line with baking paper and fill in the dough. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. 

5) Let the cake rest for about 10 minutes before turning it onto a cooling rack. Dust with a little confectioner's sugar before serving.
© Copyright: Cynthia Barcomi "Backbuch", p. 129.

Here's how mine turned out:

By adding applesauce to the cake, you ensure it stays wonderfully moist and has a hint of apple sweetness with every single bite. I added walnuts and raisins to mine but left out chocolate and cranberries as I thought two added ingredients were more than enough and anything else would not have made this cake any better. My add-ins of choice are certainly a rather safe bet, but if you are more of risk-takers than I am, feel free to add as many thing as you like. 
This cake is very nice and the perfect accompaniment for a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon, but it would make a sunday brunch or breakfast certainly even better. 

Have fun trying!