We've been hit by the remnants of that storm which deluged the Midwest last weekend; it's been cold and miserable. That being the case, I decided that last night was a perfect time to make an autumn "comfort" dessert. This recipe is adapted from the 1963 McCalls cookbook: I changed shortening to oil, separated the eggs, and made a couple of other changes. The idea for the meringue topping came from a spice cake in a late 1950s Ladies Home Journal cookbook. This cake is superbly moist!
Applesauce Meringue Cake
2-1/2 cups flour
1-3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups applesauce (15-oz jar)
4 egg yolks
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sift together first 9 (dry) ingredients. Add oil & applesauce; mix until moistened. Add egg yolks and beat for 2 minutes; stir in walnuts. Pour into greased & floured 13x9x2 pan. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Cake will not be done.
While the cake bakes, whip the egg whites until stiff, with vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar. After 35 minutes baking, take the cake out and top with meringue. Bake another 12 to 14 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned. Can be served warm or cold.
The kids who are still at home are glad today that the others are gone, because there's enough of this cake left to make a rare, sweet-but-not-too-sweet breakfast.
3 comments:
I just tried meringue for the first time last week (attempted a Pavlova). It didn't work out too well, which I think is because I'm an inexperienced meringue-baker. :o) I plan on practicing more. Your cake looks wonderful!!
Lori, I find that meringue works best if it's only baked about 10 minutes. I tried baking the meringue for the whole time when I first made this cake, and it was terrible! This way worked out well!
Thanks for the tip. I look forward to trying out your recipe. :o)
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