Growing up in my house was an adventure, my parents deny it now but they were hippies back in the day; I’m talking burn your bra, protest the war kind of hippies. As a toddler in the late 70’s I had a shirt that read “Stop the Vietnam War Now”…the war had been over for a few years but whatever. I also had a shirt that read “I can do anything boys can do only better” and then it listed things that I could do better than boys, this attitude may have played a role in why I didn’t date until I met my husband…hmmmm.

What does any of this have to do with Apples & Oats Spice Cake you ask? Well this recipe is exactly the type of recipe my mom loves and something she would have given us as kids. In fact before Whole Foods and before it was trendy to eat sugar free and gluten free, my mom routinely took us to little natural food markets and would “treat” us to sugar free lollipops.

Now I wouldn’t classify this as a “healthy” cake but it has a good texture to it and it has no butter or oil, only good homemade (you can use store bought) applesauce. It’s dense and chewy and not too sweet, I admit I’ve been eating it for breakfast and it makes a great addition to kids lunches. You can play with different inclusions like walnuts, pecans, flax seed but I used pumpkins seeds here to keep it school friendly.

 

Apples & Oats Spice Cake

Makes 2 Big Loaves

965g Apple Sauce, sweetened

4 Large Eggs

300g Light Brown Sugar

640g All Purpose Flour

100g Rolled Oats, slow cooking not instant

1 Cup Milk, 2% or 3% (room temperature or warm)

1 1/2 Tsp. Kosher Salt

100g Pumpkin Seeds (or other nut/seed)

3 Tsp Baking Soda

3/4 Tsp Baking Powder

3 Tsp. Cinnamon, ground

1/2 Tsp Cloves, ground

3/4 Tsp. Nutmeg, ground

1 1/2 Tsp. Ginger, ground

Preheat oven to 325F and prepare loaf pans with pan release (recipe below) or very well sprayed with oil or buttered.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add apple sauce, eggs and sugar and mix on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. In a seperate bowl, combine all dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, pumpkin seeds and oats. Add the dry mixture to the applesauce mixture and mix on low until combined, another 1 minute.  Add the milk and mix on the lowest setting until it will no longer splash and then on medium for approx. 30 seconds.

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and bake for 75-90 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature and remove from pan. This loaf freezes beautifully, I usually serve one and freeze the other.

When I served this as a dessert for my family, I added whipped Chantilly cream and caramel sauce, it was awesome! I hope you enjoy this recipe.

 

The following recipe is what professional pastry Chefs use in their kitchens to ensure cakes and loaves don’t stick to their pans.

Pan Release

1/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup AP flour

Mix all ingredients together until its a smooth paste. Use a pastry brush or clean fingers to spread all over loaf pans. Can be used for any baking pan.