Applesauce loaf (to share)

There are many home cooks who do not share their recipes.  They do not for a variety of reasons that are their own.  My grandmother, whose father was a baker, was a great baker and did not share her recipes.  My mother, her daughter, asked her for her recipes.    They were not written down.  The result was that my mother, her daughter, baked with her and wrote many of the recipes down as they baked together.  Now I make them and share them with my daughters and, frankly, anyone who asks.  Look right here….recipes!

My grandmother’s recipes were not always easy to transcribe.  She didn’t use measuring spoons.  And her measuring cup was a “nickel” cup sold at the variety store down the street.  You know…that big white coffee mug with the big handle.  That was it.

I made this loaf one year in a hurry from my mother’s recipe card.  It was the night before the office Christmas party and I forgot.  I had time to make something simple and this was it.  The ingredients are things that are always at hand.  One of my colleagues came into the smorgasbord of dishes and first tasted my applesauce loaf.  And then he pulled a chair up to the buffet table and sliced about half of the loaf.  Someone tossed out a comment about his less than correct behavior.  He responded by telling us that the applesauce loaf tasted exactly like something his grandmother used to make and he simply couldn’t stop eating it.  He hadn’t had anything like it for years.  He was delighted when I offered him the recipe.  And for years after he brought the applesauce loaf to share with the rest of us at Christmas and sometimes on a whim.

I’m glad I shared my grandmother’s recipe.  Now lots and lots of people can enjoy her baking….forever.

This is a simple recipe that is really more a cake than a quick bread.  It can be made in an 8×8 inch square pan or a loaf pan.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 1/4 cups applesauce (I make my own…but purchased is fine)

Directions:
1. Turn on oven and set at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2.  Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and spices onto wax paper (or into a bowl)
3.  Beat brown sugar, butter, and the egg in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
4.  Mix dry ingredients into the sugar and butter mixture alternately with applesauce.
5.  Pour into a greased 8 inch square pan or a loaf pan.
6.  Bake the 8 inch square pan about 45 minutes…the loaf pan about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake or loaf comes out clean.
7.  Serve warm or cool.
8.  Powered sugar can be lightly sprinkled over the top before serving.

link to homemade applesauce recipe on this blog

A variety of apples purchased from Fruitwood Farm and Wm. Schober and Sons Orchard were used to make the applesauce.