Today is my grandma’s 92nd birthday.  Yes, 92nd.  Even though I live in Oregon and she lives in California, I am helping her celebrate today with a special cake.

My Grandpa and Grandma circa 1940.

Me, Grandma, and Sam.  June 2011.

When I was a young girl I spent a lot of time at Grandma’s house.  I have many fond memories of playing at her house.  One of my favorite childhood memories is of watching my grandmother make pies.  She always began baking early in the morning, before the kitchen got too hot.  If I close my eyes I can go right back to Grandma’s house, which was torn down some years ago to make room for new apartment buildings.

The kitchen in Grandma’s house wasn’t very large.  One wall was lined with a counter and cupboards.  There was a sink in the middle of the counter with a window over top.  Another wall housed the stove and oven.  On the other side of the room across from the stove, stood the refrigerator.  Next to the refrigerator was a small table, just big enough to squeeze four chairs around it.

Grandma’s house was old.  The walls in the kitchen had become faded and dusty.  Different objects graced the walls of the kitchen.  Items that might look like junk to some, but were treasures to Grandma:  A clock that went tick, tick, tick as the second hand went round; an old calendar that had long expired, but Grandma kept it up because she liked the picture; and works of art created by the many grandchildren.

In the back of the kitchen there was a door that led to the backyard.  An old screen door hung on the frame with the door.  The screen was tattered and torn.  The spring had long since given out, which caused a loud bang if ever someone just let the door go after opening it.  If the door was left open for any length of time, one of Grandma’s many cats or chickens might wander in.  Then Grandma would have to try to catch the intruder and return it back to the wild.

Grandma always made her piecrust from scratch.  She didn’t use a mix, and back then there was no such thing as Pillsbury Ready Made Piecrust.  I would watch her measure out all of her ingredients and mix them in the bowl.  She would let me help stir until the dough became so thick the spoon became stuck and wouldn’t budge.

Grandma would flour up her hands, the white dust sinking into the wrinkles of her skin, and work the dough like a masseuse giving a deep massage.  She would then sprinkle flour onto an area of the counter top and plop the dough on top of it.  With her rolling pen grandma would go back and forth across the dough until it was smoothed out to just the right thickness.  Rolling the dough looked like an arduous task, but Grandma had done it so many times, it had become effortless.

Once the dough was rolled out into a circle, Grandma would place it in the bottom of a pie plate.  She would trim off the edges and set the leftover dough aside to be used later.  Grandma always let me pinch the piecrust around the edge of the plate, to give it the pretty scalloped edge.  That was my favorite job and I always looked forward to it.

Grandma made many different kinds of pies.  She made pies with fresh fruit, pies with canned filling, and pies with thick creamy pudding.  Sometimes the pies would be topped with fluffy whipped cream, stiff peaks of meringue, or a golden crust.  No matter what the flavor might be, all of Grandma’s pies were equally delicious.

Once the pie was put together and placed in the oven, Grandma would roll out the leftover dough and trim it into triangular pieces.  We would take the pieces and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar.  Then we would roll them up like little croissants.  Grandma would brush the tops with butter and place them in the oven to bake.

As the simple little cookies baked, the smell of cinnamon wafted out from the oven filling the kitchen like a thick fog rolling across a valley.  The cookies did not rise as they baked because of the weight of the piecrust.   Instead, the cookies would be flat on top.

Grandma’s old oven was notorious for getting too hot and causing things to over bake.  Often times our little cookies would scorch on their tops and bottoms.  They weren’t much to look at, but they tasted divine like little bites of heaven.

It’s been many years since I have helped Grandma make a pie and I don’t know that I will ever have the opportunity to bake pies with Grandma again.  One thing that’s for sure is that I will always remember the days spent in Grandma’s little kitchen.

Since today is Grandma’s 92nd birthday I wanted to bake something in her honor.  Even though I spent so many hours helping Grandma make pies, I felt that for her birthday, I should make cake.

Several years ago Grandma sent me a letter in which she included two recipes.  One of those recipes was for her applesauce cake.  My mom can remember having applesauce cake when she was growing up.  She said that Grandma used to make it for special occasions.  Well today is certainly a special occasion so I would like to share my version of Grandma’s Applesauce Cake.

My version of applesauce cake is topped with Calvados caramel sauce.  Calvados is a French apple brandy.  If you cannot find Calvados, you can substitute another kind of apple brandy.  If you don’t like the boozy flavor or if you are serving this cake to littles, you can omit the Calvados and flavor the caramel sauce with vanilla extract.

(adapted from Grandma’s recipe)
This recipe will make enough batter for one dozen cupcakes, one dozen mini bundt cakes, or one 9 x 5 loaf pan with a small amount left over.  If you want to use a regular size bundt pan, double the recipe.


1.25 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (optional)


Grease and flour your pan.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Sift together the flour, spices, and salt.  Set aside.  
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until light.
Stir the baking soda into the applesauce.  Stir the boiling water into the applesauce.  Add the applesauce mix to the butter mix.  Stir.  Add the flour and stir until almost incorporated.  Add the walnuts and raisins and stir just until everything is combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans filling 3/4 full for cupcakes or mini bundt cakes.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Baking times will be longer for larger pans.
After baking, cool the cakes in pan for 5 minutes.  Then turn the cakes out onto a rack to cool.


Calvados Caramel Sauce
(Recipe from epicurious.com) 


1.5 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp Calvados or other apple brandy
2 tbsp butter


Place the sugar in a heavy (2 qt.) saucepan.  Cook the sugar over moderate heat while stirring with a fork.  Stir just until the sugar has melted.  Once melted, continue to cook while swirling the pan.  Do not stir.  Use caution as the sugar can darken quickly.  Cook to a golden amber color.  Remove the pan from heat and add the water and Calvados.  Use caution as the caramel will bubble up and steam and sugar burns hurt like a you know what.  Return the pan to heat and simmer until the carmel has dissolved.  Stir in the butter.  The sauce is best used warm, as it thickens when cool.  

Place the sugar in a pan.

Stir with a fork, until sugar is melted.

Swirl pan and cook sugar to a golden amber color.

After adding water and Calvados, return to heat and simmer until caramel dissolves.  Stir in butter.

Drizzle desired amount of caramel sauce over applesauce cake.  Garnish with toasted walnuts and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  My favorite is Tillamook Vanilla Bean.  Just sayin’.  

-Lacey

Layers of Avocado Mousse, Almond Pound Cake, Strawberries, and Toasted Almonds.

A few weeks ago Captain Awesome had a potluck at work.  The theme was Iron Chef and the secret ingredient was Avocado.  When I heard about the potluck I knew immediately I would make a dessert (because that’s what I do).

I searched the web for inspiration and came across the California Avocado Commission website.  You can find it here.  There I found tons of recipes using avocado, including desserts.

After searching, I decided I would make a trifle, a layered dessert made with custard, whipped cream, fruit, and cake.  My trifle was composed of almond pound cake, avocado mousse, sliced strawberries, and toasted almonds.  I called it the California Trifle.

The individual flavors came together perfectly.  The sweet almond pound cake paired well with the not so sweet, creamy avocado mousse,  the strawberries added a succulence that only strawberries can, and the toasted almonds gave a crunch that took the texture of the dessert to the next level.  It was delectable.

The Captain took the trifle to work and when his co-workers saw it they said it was a sure winner.  My trifle ended up taking second place (a recurring theme for the Captain).  The first place dessert was an avocado like smoothie, simply called Avocado Dessert from allrecipes.com.  I don’t know what the judges were thinking.

If you’d like to make your own trifle here is my recipe for avocado mousse.

Avocado Mousse 

Ingredients
1 Envelope unflavored Gelatin (7g)
35 grams cold water
12 oz Avocado pulp (about 3.5 medium avocados)
1 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz Sugar
1 oz Rum (optional)

16 oz Whipping Cream
2 oz Powdered Sugar

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let it bloom.

Place the avocado, lemon juice, and sugar  in a food processor and process until smooth.  Place the puree in a large mixing bowl.

Microwave the bloomed gelatin for about 15 to 20 seconds until it melts and looks clear.  Pour the gelatin over the avocado puree and stir to combine.

Place the whipping cream in the bowl of a mixer.  Sift the powdered sugar into the cream.  Whip on high with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form.

Fold the whipped cream into the avocado puree in thirds.  Add the rum with the last addition.

Use the prepared avocado mousse with cake and sliced fruit of your choice to create a trifle.  Cover and chill the assembled trifle to allow the mousse to set.