Applesauce Cake w/ Candied Ginger

Yet another cake to add to my repertoire.

Don't be afraid of the black pepper and kosher salt in the recipe. It's a spicy cake, with allspice, ground ginger and cinnamon.

I added raisins and candied ginger to the batter and it was delicious.
The original recipe calls for a caramel glaze, but that's too rich for my blood. I am not an icing girl anyway, powdered sugar is all I ever need.

And I hope by now you own my favorite bundt pan. I have always hated baking cakes in a bundt, because they stick.
This pan is guaranteed success.

Applesauce Cake w/ Candied Ginger (adapted from Food52):

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 chopped candied ginger pieces
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened (preferably homemade) applesauce
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 350F and butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and spices and set aside.



In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with both sugars until light. Mix in the applesauce, oil and vanilla until smooth.

Using a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients, being careful not to over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 10 minutes and invert onto a plate.

Dust with powdered sugar. This cake gets better with age (like me!).
Enjoy!