The Perpetual Feast

Yes, another potluck. Really, my entire social life doesn’t consist of potlucks. I go to jazz concerts and other musical performances. But it certainly does seem like I get invited to a lot of things that require food.

This particular potluck had a number of challenges. I had to run a few errands on the way, so the dessert had to travel around in my car for a few hours. I originally wanted to make an upside-down cake with a nice autumn theme.  But most upside down cakes start with a lot of butter to make the topping. So they can be a bit high in fat. They also are kind of sticky when turned out of the pan, which didn’t seem like a very good idea for traveling around in my car.

This recipe comes from an old Fannie Farmer cookbook, and is a variation on Cottage Pudding Cake, a basic yellow cake. The topping is somewhat similar to an upside-down cake, but the whole thing is served right from the baking dish, so it traveled well.

Dutch Apple Cake

1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup of sugar, divided
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
½ cup non-fat milk
¼ cup egg substitute
4 tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each.
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons raisins

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 10 x 6 inch baking pan with cooking spray and lightly flour. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking powder, salt and ½ cup of the sugar. Melt the butter in a small bowl, and then stir in the milk, applesauce, and egg substitute, beating well. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and blend well.

Spread the batter into prepared pan. Press the apple wedges into uniform rows on top of the batter. Mix the remaining ½ cup of sugar with the cinnamon and raisins. Sprinkle evenly over the apples. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Makes 8 servings with about 3 grams of fat/serving.