Promise Me

by Brent, Cora

  Below is Promise’s Applesauce Cake recipe described in Chapter Twenty Five. This was a recipe adapted from various sources and I’ve been making it since I was a kid. I tentatively recall that during the Great Depression, cakes using applesauce as a primary ingredient came into fashion as sugar became increasingly expensive and difficult to acquire. Their revised descendants remain popular today and delicious as ever.

  Promise’s Applesauce Cake

  2 ½ Cups Flour

  1 ½ Cups Sweetened Applesauce

  2 Cups Sugar

  1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

  ½ tsp Baking Powder

  ½ tsp Allspice

  ½ tsp Ground Cloves

  ¾ tsp Cinnamon

  1 ½ tsp Salt

  ½ Cup Softened Butter

  ½ Cup Water

  2 Eggs

  1 Cup Raisins (optional*)

  *Place raisins in bowl of warm water to plump

  Combine dry ingredients and mix well

  Add remaining ingredients, except raisins, and mix thoroughly, preferably using an electric mixer but in its absence enthusiastic elbow grease will do

  Drain raisins and add to batter

  Grease/flour 13x9 cake pan

  Pour cake batter into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes