Applesauce cake facts for kids
Applesauce cake is a yummy dessert cake made mostly with apple sauce, flour, and sugar. People often add different spices to it, and it's usually a very moist cake. You can add other things too, and sometimes it's made and eaten like a coffee cake. This cake has been around since the early days of America. Did you know there's even a special day for it? National Applesauce Cake Day happens every year on June 6 in the U.S.!
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How Old Is Applesauce Cake?
Applesauce cake has a long history! It was first made in the early colonial times in the New England Colonies in the northeastern United States. From the early 1900s to the 1950s, you could find recipes for applesauce cake in many American cookbooks. It was a very popular dessert!
What Goes Into Applesauce Cake?
Applesauce cake is a dessert cake that uses apple sauce, flour, and sugar as its main ingredients. You can use apple sauce you buy from the store or even make your own at home!
Other things you might add include:
- Eggs
- Butter, margarine, or oil
- Raisins
- Dates
- Chopped apple
- Chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans)
- Cocoa powder
- Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice
Some recipes also include dried or fresh, finely grated ginger.
How Is It Finished?
After the cake is baked, it's often topped with something sweet. This could be an icing, frosting, or a glaze, like a caramel glaze. Sometimes, people just sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top or add some whipped cream. If someone needs to eat gluten-free, they can make applesauce cake using rice flour instead of regular flour.
Why Is It So Moist?
Applesauce cake is usually very moist because apple sauce has a lot of liquid in it. This liquid helps keep the cake from drying out. However, if you use a chunky apple sauce, your cake might be a little less moist than if you use smooth apple sauce. A cool trick is to let the cake sit for a day or two before you eat it. This lets all the flavors mix together even better!
What Shapes Can It Be?
You can bake applesauce cake in many different kinds of pans. Some common ones include:
- A ring-shaped bundt cake pan
- A loaf pan, to make it look like a loaf of bread
- A sheet cake pan, which makes a flat, rectangular cake
Applesauce cake is also often made into small, individual cupcakes.
Different Kinds of Applesauce Cake
Applesauce cake can also be made and served as a type of coffee cake. Coffee cakes often have a sweet, crumbly topping. You can even make simple versions using a ready-made coffee cake mix, apple sauce, and other ingredients. Fruits like blueberries, cranberries, and raisins can also be added to applesauce coffee cake for extra flavor.
Images for kids
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A close-up view of applesauce walnut coffee cake
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Applesauce cupcakes with icing
