Apple Cinnamon Chip Cake

Apple Cinnamon Chip Cake

Like I said, I've been on a sweets kick.  Actually what happened is, I served my kids some homemade applesauce and they didn't finish it.  Then I worried that it would go bad.  It bothers me to just throw good food away, so I had to do something with it.  --- Seriously, I had to, there was no other option. lol.

This turned out to be such a good experiment though. It tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll!  I'm not kidding.  It really does.  But it's made with 1/2 whole wheat flour, Greek Yogurt and applesauce.  Yum, huh?

Give it a try and let me know what you think.  If you try this with 100% whole wheat, please let me know how it turns out.  I really want to know, but I'm taking a baking break for the next 2 weeks.  (Instead I'm blogging the past 2 weeks worth of baking!)

Apple Cinnamon Chip Cake

1/4 C. butter (Yes you could substitute coconut oil)
1 C. Apple sauce
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 C. Plain or Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 1/4 C. skim milk (Almond milk will work)
2 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Bag Cinnamon Chips -- I used Hershey's- find them here.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 lb. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbl. milk
8oz cream cheese (1 block - you can use reduced fat or neufchatel)
1/4 c. butter

Instructions: Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and yogurt and applesauce. Mix until smooth.  Add milk and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients- but not the cinnamon chips. Gradually add to the wet ingredients.  Fold in cinnamon chips.

Pour into a greased jellyroll pan. (or a sheetcake pan). bake at 350 for 25 min.  Check with a toothpick.  You may need to cook longer so keep an eye on it at this point.  Allow to cool

For the frosting: add the cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl and blend.  Keep mixing until it starts to become a ball.  Add milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Frost your cooled cake.  Yum!

+Hershey's Kitchens

Chocolate Quinoa Cake (Includes a quick Ganache Recipe)

Chocolate cake that uses quinoa instead of flour. Amazing!

 I've been playing around with making "healthy" sweets.   Well, healthier anyway.  And I have some friends who are gluten intolerant.  As in, just plain can't eat the stuff. I saw a recipe for chocolate quinoa cake and my interest was piqued.  However, so was my skepticism.  Seriously, could a cooked grain- actually a cooked seed, make a light, moist cake with an actual cake-like texture? Only one way to find out.  I made it. 

It was good.  The texture was a little dense, but not bad and I actually like that anyway.  My family devoured it.  They really didn't know the difference.  It stayed moist for 3 days.  That's how long I managed to hide the last few pieces, 3 days. I expected a weird texture or flavor.  Instead I got a really nice cake that I can make for people who can't eat traditional flour.  I think it's probably a bit healthier too.  Don't get me wrong.  There is sugar in it.  It is a treat, like any cake.  However, it is a treat that is a little better for you without sacrificing flavor.  Because I would rather have a small amount of fantastic, rather than a big amount of only okay.  So to have fantastic that is better for me; bonus!


I am going to direct you to the link that harbors the recipe that I used.  I normally make my own recipes, so I don't often redirect you, but it's not my recipe and I want to be fair.  But please come back and see me again.  I am posting my recipe for Whole Wheat Lemon Yogurt Blueberry Cake soon.  It was divine!

Any way the link is here: Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Oh- by the way, you may notice that my frosting is quite different.  I made a simple ganache by heating 1/2 c. cream (don't let it boil) and adding about 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  I use a mixture of semi-sweet and dark chocolate.  I stir until melted and let it set up to a pudding like consistency. I make this ahead of time and store it in the fridge.  When I made this cake, I pulled it out and spread it on the warm cake.  Then I added some more chocolate chips and let them melt into the cake a bit.  I spread it out with a knife.  It was a little like eating a layer of fudge on the cake.  Very yummy!