Applesauce Bread
Pumpkin gets the press (and the majority of the groceries in the seasonal aisle), but the true taste of autumn is a crisp, sweet apple. Apples are ripe for picking as autumn arrives, so along with grapes, pears, and, yes, pumpkins, apples are the core (sorry) of the Mabon harvest. We gather them by bushels on weekend leafing trips, perhaps destination cider mill. That sip of cider produces a cozy shudder against brisk autumn breezes, while cider jelly tops our toast on blustery mornings. As apples are an abundant species, we can them to preserve their sweetness as jelly, pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, and we dry them for granola. But the truest experience of an apple is a bite of one fresh from the tree, sweet or tart as is your pleasure.
Try telling that to bakers. Bakers fold apples into crusts from pie to turnover, tuck apples into coffee cakes and fan them across flans, bake apples in plump halves in tartes tartins or paper thin slices in puff pastry. Autumn has not arrived an many a grandmother's kitchen until a hefty apple cake appears, under a dome as a spicy applesauce cake or fresh from the oven as a German apple pancake. Gelled apples fill cookies from individual foldovers to a pan of apple bars. At least one autumn morning calls for an apple cider doughnut (or two) along with our coffee. And of course nothing beats the most fundamental apple dessert of all: simple baked apples.
Apples, one of the most ancient species on earth, have been a symbol of abundance, love, and happiness since the times of earliest civilization. Cut open crossways, an apple reveals in each half a pointed star, the symbol of magic. As we celebrate the autumn harvest by partaking in it, let us take a moment to reflect upon the gifts of Mother Earth. Let us consider the apple not just for the happiness it brings us but for the promise of the seeds of future harvest contained in its very core.
Apples speak to the satisfaction of simplicity and to the possibilities of abundance. For the next two columns, I'll share two recipes for favorite ways to bake with apples during this time of their abundance. In the previous column, we baked decadent baked apple tarts. For this column, here is my original recipe for applesauce quick bread. It's easy to make from pantry ingredients and a welcome sight in a loving packed lunch box or on the counter for a quick snack. It's best with home-canned applesauce, but if using store-bought, try to get as pure an applesauce as possible, with as few chemical preservatives as available and avoiding high fructose corn syrup altogether.
Applesauce Bread
Dried fruit should be available in the bulk foods or produce department of the supermarket. Taste a bit of dried apple before cooking with it; if it is tough, soak the apples in hot water just to cover them for 10 minutes, then drain well. If you prefer, instead of the spices below, use 2 teaspoons of apple pie spice for the batter, and sprinkle the dried apples with cinnamon sugar.
1-1/4 cups applesauce
1 cup granulated
sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 pound dried apple chunks
Unsalted butter for the pan
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
- Pull a piece of parchment paper down one long side of the loaf pan, across the bottom of the loaf pan, and up the other long side of the loaf pan. Cut the parchment to fit the pan that way. Butter the parchment. Set the pan aside while you mix the batter.
- Measure the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg into a small bowl. Whisk or stir them together until well-incorporated.
- Measure 1/2 cup dried apple into a bowl. Measure 1 tablespoon of the spiced sugar mixture and sprinkle onto the dried apple. Turn the dried apple so that it is coated with the spiced sugar.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl containing the remaining spiced sugar. Whisk to incorporate.
- Measure applesauce, oil, and milk into a large bowl. Stir together until thick and well-incorporated. Add the eggs, one a t a time, to the applesauce mixture, stirring well to combine.
- Add the flour-sugar mixture to the applesauce-egg mixture. Stir gently to combine just until blended. It is okay if some small lumps remain.
- Use a silicon spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Gently shake the pan to distribute the batter evenly in the pan.
- Gently dot the top of the batter with spiced dried apples until the top is nicely covered. It is okay if some of the spiced apples start sinking into the batter.
- Place the bread into the oven. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Allow bread to cool before slicing and serving.
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