Applesauce Cake with Lemon Frosting

I decided to turn off the news today. I’m finding the world overly distressing and I realize that shutting my ears doesn’t really solve anything or make the news go away, but I need a temporary respite.

So I’ve been cooking and baking and I have some good news: this Applesauce Cake with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting is one of the best cakes I have tasted in a long, long time.

No need to tell me that eating cake and sweets won’t cure the world or that it is unhealthy. I know. But it’s good for the moment. Do try this.

Applesauce Cake with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda 

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 1-1/2 cups sugar 

• 1-1/2 cups applesauce 

• 1/2 cup butter, slightly softened

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

• Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 13”x9” baking pan. Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and mix until the ingredients are blended. Set aside. Place the sugar, applesauce, butter, eggs and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until ingredients are moistened. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, or until the batter is smooth and uniform. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed to roughly combine the ingredients, then beat at medium for 2-3 minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and thoroughly blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely. Frost with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting.

Makes 9-12 servings

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

• 12 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

• 6 tablespoons butter at room temperature

• 1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest

Beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest together at low-medium speed until smooth, creamy and well blended.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Already thinking about what to do with the pumpkin?

Cook it, mash it and try this cake, which is tender, gently spicy and not too sweet. It also serves lots of people. It’s the kind of cake you can dress up with vanilla ice cream or poached fruit for a classy but simple dessert, or smear with cream cheese to make a sandwich, or eat plain as an afternoon snack.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed, cooked pumpkin or 15-ounce can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, sprinkle with flour and tap out any excess. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and allspice in a large bowl and whisk to blend them completely; set aside. Place the sugar, vegetable oil and coconut oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed for about one minute to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the mashed pumpkin and blend thoroughly. Add the reserved flour mixture and beat the mixture at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and even. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cake rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely. Makes one cake serving 16-18

Pumpkin Spice Cake

I accomplished “three birds with one stone” over the weekend (I say accomplished because I hate the expression killing two or three birds with one stone because I could never kill a bird with a stone or anything else).

But here’s what I accomplished: a tasty cake that satisfied three things I had to do. I needed to develop recipes that use coconut oil. I needed to bake a cake for our local Hadassah’s bi-monthly Tea for cancer patients and their caregivers at Stamford Hospital. And I wanted to use up canned food that I bought at the beginning of the fall (not that the cans of food couldn’t last longer, I just like to do a “winter” cleaning as well as a spring cleaning). 

The result was this tender, warm and spicy cake. It’s a nice nosh on a cold day. It’s good for dunking. It’s good plain, just as is, but you can dress it up with ice cream or some sort of sugary-caramel sauce (that’s way too sweet for me).

Remember this for next Thanksgiving. Or make it now. You can freeze it too, and have a piece now and then over the coming weeks. You can use canned pumpkin or squash or about 1-3/4 cups mashed fresh cooked squash.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt


2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


1 teaspoon ground cloves


1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg


1/2 teaspoon ground allspice


2 cups granulated sugar


1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup coconut oil

4 large eggs


1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, sprinkle with flour and tap out any excess. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and allspice in a large bowl and whisk to blend them completely; set aside. Place the sugar, vegetable oil and coconut oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed for about one minute to blend ingredients thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin and blend thoroughly. Add the reserved flour mixture and beat the mixture at medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the batter is smooth and even. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cake rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely. Makes one cake serving 12-16