Every Christmas, we enjoy watching The Homecoming which introduced the Walton’s and I always wonder how Mama Walton made her Applesauce Cake. Here’s my version of Livvie’s Applesauce Cake:
HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE CAKE
- 4 medium tart apples*
- ¼ cup pitted dates
- 1-¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. allspice
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup chopped nuts
Whipped cream or topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and flour an 8 inch baking pan
Peel and quarter the apples. Place in a medium saucepan. Add water to cover the bottom of the pan and cook on medium low heat until the apples are soft, adding a little water as necessary to keep mixture from sticking. This will take 15-20 minutes. Let cool. Measure ¾ cup of apples into a food processor. Cut the dates into quarters and place in the food processor along with the cooked apples. Pulse several times to finely chop the dates and smooth out the apples. *You can substitute ¾ cup of unsweetened applesauce for the cooked apples.
Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a bowl, whisk together and set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, place the oil, sugar and egg – whisk until smooth.
Stir the date mixture into the oil/sugar/egg mixture, add flour mixture and stir until flour is absorbed. Stir in chopped nuts.
Spread batter in the prepared baking pan and bake @ 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan on a rack.
6 servings. Serve with whipped cream or topping.
My mother used to make applesauce cake each Christmas. That really brings back memories. Those spice shakers are so cute!
I love old-fashioned recipes like this so much… used to use dates in baking when I was growing up and I still remember how much they will stick to your knife and to each other after chopping. Unfortunately, too many folks in my family decided they don’t “like” dates (among other goodies) so I gave up making stuff with dates in it.
I do have homemade applesauce in the freezer…. maybe I can whip up a pan of this cake just for me!
Thanks for sharing, Lillian!
Yum, sounds great!
Umm, umm good. That looks like real whipped cream, even better.
P.S. Like your new spring header.
Lillian, watching the Waltons with my parents every week is part of my fond childhood memories. I’ve been wanting a good recipe for Applesauce Cake for a while now and can’t wait to try yours! It looks so good with the whip cream! 🙂
This looks amazing, Lillian! I’m definitely saving it for next time I want something sweet!
Ooooh, I love dates! And I have a shelf full of applesauce from last fall. If I leave out the nuts, I have everything in the house to make this! Thanks for another great recipe.
The cake looks fantastic and we always have apple cake on the holiday as well – AND, my daughter and I always watch the homecoming – I just love that movie and it doesn’t feel like Christmas without it!