Ma Niche : GYC0

Its already been 2 months since GYCO Blackberry challenge. Hence time for yet another Get your Chef On ! This month Julie from White Lights of Wednesday and Jen from Four Mars and One Venus challenged us to make/bake something special with Applesauce. Since applesauce happens to be one of my favorite substitutes for butter and eggs I immediately signed up for it... howver a recipe in which the star ingredient is merely used as a substitute isn't really the recipe for GYCO.... right ? so i raked up the internet looking for a recipe which wasn't too complicated and yet felt special enough for a challenge. and yesterday afternoon I finally bumped upon The One.... "Dorie's Applesauce Spice Bars." While the recipe looked wonderful by itself I thought a little tweaking would be nice. So i modified the ingredient list a bit and traded the original brown sugar glaze for a warm honey glaze... the result was fabulous.. we loved the spiced up soft moist Warm Applesauce Spice Bars....

and I am sure you will too when you try it......

now the recipe... I adapted the recipe of the cake from Something Sweet By Karen and the idea of glaze from Alex Guarnaschelli's Warm Grape Cake . The original cake recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking : From my home to yours. Thanks to Karen for publishing this recipe as part of Tuesdays with Dorie. It certainly rocks !

Warm Applesauce Spice Bars Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
ingredients for the cake 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 cup light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 Bartlett pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped 1/2 oven dried red grapes or plum raisins (I used a 3:1 ratio of the two) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts for the glaze 1/4 cup honey 3/4 inch knob of ginger, peeled and freshly grated 1/4-1/3 cup golden raisins - the method center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degree F. butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line the bottom with a parchment paper. butter the paper, dust the floor and sides of the pan with flour and tap off the excess. (in case you are like me and do not have a 9 x 13 inch pan, prepare your small cookie pan. it works. that is what i used.) whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt, sift the mixture and keep it aside. in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt the butter over low heat. add the light brown sugar and whisk the mixture until the sugar melts and a smooth batter is formed. remove the saucepan from the heat and whisking continuously, add the eggs one at a time. whisk until the eggs are well incorporated into the batter, then add the applesauce and vanilla extract and whisk until a smooth uniform batter is formed. once all the wet ingredients are well-incorporated, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the flour mixture, mixing only until they disappear. then mix in the pears, the raisins and nuts. now scraping the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the surface with a rubber spatula and bake for 23-25 minutes until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (for me this happened exactly after 23 minutes.) transferring the baking pan to a rack, let the cake cool completely. once the cake has cooled completely, after about 30-45 minutes, slice the cake into 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inch bars and go ahead and prepare the glaze. for the glaze, add the honey to a small saute pan and holding the pan over low heat, bring it to a light simmer. once the honey bubbles and turns light brown, add the freshly grated ginger and golden raisins to the pan. saute for another 20-30 seconds and then drizzle the honey glaze over the sliced bars and serve and enjoy with milk, tea or a scoop of ice-cream !

Warm Applesauce Spice Bars

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

ingredients

for the cake

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Bartlett pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 oven dried red grapes or plum raisins (I used a 3:1 ratio of the two)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

for the glaze

1/4 cup honey
3/4 inch knob of ginger, peeled and freshly grated
1/4-1/3 cup golden raisins

the method

center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degree F. butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line the bottom with a parchment paper. butter the paper, dust the floor and sides of the pan with flour and tap off the excess. (in case you are like me and do not have a 9 x 13 inch pan, prepare your small cookie pan. it works. that is what i used.)
whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt, sift the mixture and keep it aside.
in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt the butter over low heat. add the light brown sugar and whisk the mixture until the sugar melts and a smooth batter is formed.
remove the saucepan from the heat and whisking continuously, add the eggs one at a time. whisk until the eggs are well incorporated into the batter, then add the applesauce and vanilla extract and whisk until a smooth uniform batter is formed.
once all the wet ingredients are well-incorporated, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the flour mixture, mixing only until they disappear. then mix in the pears, the raisins and nuts.
now scraping the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the surface with a rubber spatula and bake for 23-25 minutes until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (for me this happened exactly after 23 minutes.)
transferring the baking pan to a rack, let the cake cool completely. once the cake has cooled completely, after about 30-45 minutes, slice the cake into 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inch bars and go ahead and prepare the glaze.
for the glaze, add the honey to a small saute pan and holding the pan over low heat, bring it to a light simmer. once the honey bubbles and turns light brown, add the freshly grated ginger and golden raisins to the pan. saute for another 20-30 seconds and then drizzle the honey glaze over the sliced bars and serve and enjoy with milk, tea or a scoop of ice-cream !

So that was my awesome Warm Applesauce Spice Bar for GYCO Applesauce...

Hope you enjoyed the recipe and will try it while apples and pears are still flooding your local grocery store. So much for today. Have a great week !

I shall be sharing this with the following food events...

Monday Food : Made with Love Mondays, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Inspiration MOnday Party, Sharing Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Maniac Monday Linky Party,Mix it up Monday, The Scoop

Tuesday Food: Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations, Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home, Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Tasty Tuesday, Hearth and Soul blog Hop

Wednesday Food : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain , Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2

Thursday Food: Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage