Adventures In Spicy Cake
For some mysterious reason, spice cake seems to have gone out of fashion. It’s yummy but not many people make it anymore, which is a shame. It’s light and delicious, especially with cream cheese frosting. And if you add apples (usually in the form of applesauce), it’s extra moist and flavorful.
I do have a really great from-scratch apple spice cake recipe that I adapted from this one on the Smitten Kitchen website. But I decided to take a whack at a quick-and-easy version, using a yellow or white cake mix and canned cream cheese frosting.
Unicorns, huzzah! Who doesn’t love unicorns?
Before I get too far into this post, I want to confess that I somehow completely failed to take even a single photo of the process. Maybe people don’t need to see me mixing up a cake to understand the written instructions, but if nothing else, pictures break up the monotony of blocks of text. So, to make this post a little easier on the eyes, I’ve decided to add in random pictures of stuff I found on the internet that have no connection with spice cake at all. I’ll even put in captions. You’re welcome.
Ahem. Apple Spice Cake! A cup of water, three eggs, 1/2 a cup of unsweetened applesauce, and a Tbsp of pumpkin or apple pie spice, mixed together with the box of cake mix. Pour it into a greased 9”x13” pan, and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cake is done. Let the cake cool completely before frosting it with the canned cream cheese frosting. Cut and serve. Delish! This cake will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge, tightly covered.
Both funny and true!
That’s it. Actually, I feel I should have made a slightly bigger deal out of the baking process, but honestly, it’s so fast and easy that I couldn’t do it. I will say that since the applesauce substitutes for any added fat in the cake, the texture comes out slightly different from your average un-doctored box cake. I feel that the finished cake is slightly closer to the more substantial texture of pound cake, but for me, that’s all to the good. If I ever have to choose between regular cake and pound cake, it will be pound cake every time.
One other thing to note: the recipe as I’ve written it assumes that you are using a Duncan Hines cake mix. But any brand will do. Just pay attention to the directions on the back of the box. Use the amount of eggs and water indicated, and however much oil or butter is called for, put in that much applesauce instead, and it will work beautifully.
Give it a try…you won’t be sorry.
Quick and Easy Apple Spice Cake
Click here for printable PDF of recipe.
Sheldon’s use of the Time Machine results in a really bad dream about being eaten by Morlocks. (The Big Bang Theory—The Nerdvana Annihilation)
INGREDIENTS
1 box Duncan Hines yellow or white cake mix*
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice**
1 can of cream cheese frosting
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9x13” baking pan by spraying the bottom with cooking spray.
Mix together the wet ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients and beat with a whisk or hand mixer on medium speed for two minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a couple crumbs attached.
Let cake cool completely, then frost with the cream cheese frosting. Cut and serve. Should keep in the fridge for 3-5 days, tightly covered.
NOTES
*if using some brand of cake mix other than Duncan Hines, refer to the directions on the box for the proper quantities of water, eggs, and applesauce. The applesauce will be a 1:1 swap for whatever oil or butter is called for.
**if using a spice cake mix, omit the pumpkin (or apple) pie spice. Also, if no pumpkin or apple pie spice is handy, can substitute:
2 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp ground ginger
1/2 Tsp nutmeg
Pinch of ground clove
