Cake #18: Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Remember playing Master Mind as a kid and your opponent would say, " right color wrong space" and you knew you were close to a win but still had some thinking to do? This is my Mastermind Cake.

I made an incredibly delicious Cinnamon Applesauce Cake last night and it was moist and had a spicy depth of flavor that was truly impressive.

But...

A dense cinnamon applesauce cake in June was a classic case of, "right color wrong space" or more specifically, "right cake, wrong time of year"

Spicy, apple goodness screams fall. It was like taking a bite of corn mazes, leaf piles and bonfires.

It was unsettling.

My kids liked it. Give three teenagers cake and they rarely complain.

I loved how it wasn't too sweet and the ingredients were more wholesome then most.

My husband did not like it at all. He thought it was a weird spice cake. One bite was more than enough.

Not one to give up with half a cake in the house, I re-read the recipe, decided it wasn't any worse then your average batch of pancakes, so I served the rest for breakfast with big glasses of milk.

There were hoots and hollers all around as this was, "the best coffee cake ever". So there you have it.

Thanks to Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for the great recipe. She found an earlier version at the always incredible Smitten Kitchen.

Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour (next time I'll try fresh ground wheat flour for one cup - I think it'd be perfect)

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

4 ounces butter, at room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups applesauce (no sugar added or homemade if you have it)

½ cup chopped walnuts  (I'm allergic so we skipped them. Plus, I don't like crunch in my cake.)

½ cup Hersey’s Cinnamon Chips (These are one of my very favorite things on the planet!)

For frosting

1 package of cream cheese, at room temperature. I used 1/3 less fat Neufchatel Cream Cheese.

3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour (or use spray) 3 mini loaf pans or use an 8-inch cake pan.

Make cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in walnuts and cinnamon chips. The batter will look a little curdly and uneven but don’t worry, it will all bake up perfectly in the end.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes (it took 47 minutes up here at 6050ft). 

Make frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon, beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon chips. This does triple duty as it adds flavor decoration and keeps your plastic wrap from sticking to the cake. 

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