I've made cakes that rely on dates for sugar and/or flavour before, but this is the first time I've used prunes for that purpose. It works really well though! Especially with all the spices.

My mom shared this recipe with me. And we both agreed that it didn't need anywhere near the full amount of sugar or oil called for. She also omitted the glaze. It seemed unnecessary given how sweet and rich the cake already was.

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of sugar and 1 c. of oil. My mom cut the sugar back to 1 1/4 c. the first time she made it. And cut the oil all the way back to 1/4 c. (adding 1 c. of applesauce to make up for the missing oil).

I scaled back the sugar even further, to 1 c. I still found the cake plenty sweet enough. You could probably knock the sugar back even further if you were so inclined. And I would be tempted to swap out some or all of the granulated sugar with brown sugar next time. I think that the slight molasses flavour of the brown sugar would go really well with the fruit and spices.

Prune Cake

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 c. pitted prunes, chopped
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Bring the prunes and water to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Sift in the baking soda and stir to combine.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a Bundt pan.
6. Combine the oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and eggs and mix well.
7. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
8. Mix in the prunes along with any residual liquid.
9. Stir in the pecans.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (~45 minutes).
12. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Pumpkin Quick Bread

I struggled a bit to get back into the swing of things after getting home from New Zealand. Getting on top of the meal planning and cooking was especially hard. And figuring out what to make for breakfast, doubly so.

This pumpkin bread was something of a desperation option. But it did at least give us something tasty to eat for a few days. Not exactly the most substantial option. But a nice treat and something to tide us over while I worked out what the heck I was doing!

Pumpkin Bread

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 390g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 430g pumpkin purée
• 200g sugar
• 200g brown sugar¹
• 1/2 c. canola oil²
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf tins.
2. Sift the baking soda and baking powder into the flour.
3. Mix in the salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugars, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
6. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and top with pepitas.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (50-60 minutes).
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out into wire racks to finish cooling.

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¹ I reduced the overall sugar from 600g to 400g and replaced half of it with brown sugar. ^Back
2 I halved the amount of oil called for and replaced it with an equivalent amount of unsweetened applesauce. This gives it a nice bit of moisture, some extra fruit and fibre, and drastically reduces the amount of fat in each loaf. And they still tasted great! Absolutely no complaints. They definitely didn't need the extra oil (or sugar). ^Back

I've made other applesauce cakes before, but I'd never tried the one out of The Breakfast Bible specifically. And since I am apparently trying to 100% as many cookbooks as possible, I decided to give it a go. It was pretty good. But, honestly, I think I probably prefer the version out of the Kidlet's ATK cookbook over this one. Still... glad I tried it. If nothing else it's another recipe to check off and another point for comparison.

Applesauce Crumb Cake

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Cake

• 370g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g sugar
• 200g brown sugar
• 3/4 c. canola oil
• 3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• 3 apples, peeled and cubed

Crumb Topping

• 120g all-purpose flour
• 100g brown sugar
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x33cm (9x13") baking pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl (or large measuring cup), combine the sugar, brown sugar, oil, applesauce, and eggs.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
5. Add the apples and stir until just mixed.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
7. Combine the flour and sugar for the topping and cut in the butter.
8. Press into a ball and then separate into coarse crumbs.
9. Sprinkle the crumbs over the cake.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~1 hour.
11. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
12. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Okay, so this recipe needs some work. I had my doubts about it, but I figured I should make it as written the first time. Well, okay, mostly as written. I did make a few swaps just to try to make it a little healthier. But they're tried-and-true swaps that I've made in similar recipes in the past with no ill effect, so I'm confident that that's not why this recipe didn't really work. And, having tried it once, I do have a few ideas for how to improve it. I just haven't had a chance to test them yet. So, take the instructions below with a grain of salt.

Sourdough Bran Muffins

Adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 500g ripe (fed/active) sourdough starter @ 100% hydration
• 1/4 c. water
• 60g all-purpose flour
• 150g oat or wheat bran
• 4 dates, pitted and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. boiling water
• 1/4 c. honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. raisins

Directions

1. Combine starter and water.
2. Mix in flour and bran.
3. Cover and let ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
4. Pour the boiling water over the dates. If your honey is very stiff or has crystalized, add it as well; the hot water will soften/dissolve it. Set aside for 10-20 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a muffin pan.
6. Combine date mixture, honey, eggs, banana, applesauce, oil, salt, cinnamon, and mixed spice in a large measuring cup and mix well.
7. Break up preferment into small pieces and sprinkle with baking soda.
8. Add ~1/2 of the wet ingredients and mix well.
9. Add the raisins and the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.
10. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). This recipe should make ~18 full-sized (5cm/2" diameter) muffins ore 36 mini muffins.
11. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-18 minutes. (Mini muffins will probably only need 10 minutes.)
12. Cool in pan(s) for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
13. Serve with butter and/or jam.

This started out as Amish cinnamon bread, but I made enough changes that I don't think I can really call it the same recipe anymore.

The original recipe called for a total of 3 1/2 c. of sugar and just over 1 1/3 c. of oil. I opted to replace some of the sugar with a monk fruit and erythiol sweetener and I replaced ~75% of the oil with apple sauce. I also swapped out about half the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. I think next time I'd just use 100% whole wheat flour. And I'd also cut the sugar back slightly. (Not that it wasn't delicious as it was. I'm just trying to figure out ways to make it a bit healthier.)

Apple-Cinnamon Bread

Adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2019

Ingredients

Coating

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. monk fruit sweetener with erythiol (or more sugar)
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. oil

Bread

• 500g whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. monk fruit sweetener with erythiol (or more sugar)
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 1 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
2. Oil two loaf pans with 1/2 tsp. of oil each.
3. Combine the sugar(s) and cinnamon for the topping and use 2 Tbsp. of the mixture to coat the inside of each loaf pan. You will use 1/4 c. total for the pans and have ~1/4 c. left over.)
4. Add the sugar(s) and cinnamon to the flour.
5. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda.
6. Stir in the salt.
7. In a large measuring cup (or bowl) combine the milk, applesauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
8. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. (Some lumps are okay.)
9. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans.
10. Sprinkle each loaf with 2 Tbsp. of the coating/cinnamon-sugar mixture.
11. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 70-80 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and let cool in tins set on wire racks for ~1 hour.
13. Run a knife around the edges of the pans and turn the loaves out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
14. Serve warm or cold.