Weekend Treats: Applesauce Cake

This applesauce cake is perfect on a weekend when all you want to do is burrow into the couch with dessert and a cup of tea. It has that rustic look and taste, more like a bread than a cake, and it's one of those sweets that can totally pass as breakfast. I added chopped pecans to mine because why not and dusted it with powdered sugar to make it a little bit fancy.

Applesauce Cake
Recipe courtesy of Everyday Food

1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for cake pan
3 large apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into chunks
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground c innamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
chopped walnuts or pecans, if desired
confectioners' sugar (optional), for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8-inch round cake pan. In a medium saucepan, bring apples and 1/4 cup water to a simmer over high. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until apples are very tender, 12 minutes. Mash apples with a whisk, stirring to dry mixture slightly, 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk brown sugar into apples, then oil. Whisk in eggs, then flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and chopped nuts. Transfer batter to pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes. Invert and let cake cool on rack. To serve, dust top with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serves 8.