Wacky Applesauce Cake with Ms. Humble’s Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 F. I use an 8×8-inch glass baking dish for this cake. The cake is usually served directly from the pan. If you want to remove it after it’s cooked, line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper or parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over the sides of the pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, raisins and chopped pecans until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, water, applesauce, caramel extract and vinegar.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined but do not over mix.

Immediately pour the batter into the baking dish. Bake at 350 F for 35-45 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. I found that these cakes usually take 40-45 minutes in my oven. Place the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla on medium speed of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to almost stiff peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and beat briefly to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all of the ingredients are mixed. Do not over beat.

Frost the top of the cooled cake. Store the cake in the refrigerator. Makes 9 servings.

The cake recipe is adapted from a recipe on Recipe Link and the frosting is adapted from the Not So Humble Pie blog.