Applesauce Spice Cake Recipe | James Beard Foundation

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 cooking apples, such as Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Cortland, Rome, Braeburn, Gala, McIntosh, or a combination, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice
• 1/4 cup apple cider, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, orange juice, or water
• 2 tablespoons granulated or brown sugar (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan, at room temperature
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup chunky applesauce
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, regular milk, thin yogurt, or cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)