Recipe: Apple and Poppy Seed Cake Scented with Lemon (Bundt cake using applesauce)

APPLE AND POPPY SEED CAKE SCENTED WITH LEMON

"This cake is rich in flavor without the fat, thanks to a fruit puree that provides taste, texture, and moistness. The elimination of shortening has obvious advantages for our waistlines, as well as an interesting historical note. Fruit purees were traditionally used in settlers' times because pantries were usually well stocked with them during fall and winter months when butter was hard to come by. Today, this ingredient has been happily resurrected as an effective, tasty way to trim calories and fat."

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups applesauce
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with vegetable spray or coat it with butter and flour.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and add all the remaining ingredients. Mix the egg mixture into the flour until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Place on a rack to cool completely before unmolding.

Makes 1 Bundt cake (12 servings)
Source: Ron DeSantis and Amy Coleman, Culinary Institute of America, Culinary Secrets of the CIA, 1995