This came to be because of a recipe request tonight, one I cannot say no to as it comes from my God-daughter/niece/former Washington County Dairy Princess/Ag teacher who looks FABULOUS in a welding helmet and knows her way ALL the way around a cow. Kristi fb'ed me and asked if I had Gramma Meeuwsen's recipe for Chocolate Applesauce Cake, and it gave me a bit of a feeling of power to know a mere grand-daughter-in-LAW has it when the grand-daughter does not. Power good......but I digress. Losing recipes is a bitch.
I have a butt-load of recipes from lots of places, and I try really hard to keep track of them - I have panicked in the past when I couldn't find Bran Muffins, had an anxiety attack when I thought I had lost Eggnog Scones for good, and had a near-death experience when the base for what I will only call "Big O Cupcakes" at this point in time went missing. Yes food is my crutch, and if you have a problem with that I dare say you have probably eaten a Lean Cuisine frozen dinner in the last month, think mayonnaise is "icky", and believe that fruit is a dessert. Live life in color once in a while, experience something that will knock your socks off that you can remain fully dressed for why dont'cha!
So yeah, recipes....archives....the FILE. I have recipes received at my wedding shower over 31 years ago that still see action. Cookbooks as well, and don't care when/where they came from if they're good - yes food can be trendy, but belly up to a traditional Tater Tot Casserole with mushroom soup and regular ol' hamburger and you will step into a world of comfort and nostalgia that moroccan goat on a bed of lentils can never match. Unless, of course you're Moroccan and your Gramma used to make you eat goat with lentils. This is one that I think my mother-in-law let me copy, and it is a family favorite....I frankly prefer the chocolate zucchini cake, but since I am an "In-Law", that is to be expected....I have to buck the trends.
Gramma Meeuwsen's Chocolate Applesauce Cake
This amuses me, because it makes me wonder the true origin of the recipe. Gramma's chocolate chip cookies were a true wonder, and were nothing like Toll House, which is what my pitiful family always made. One day years after I was granted the huge honor of this recipe, I was perusing the back of Betty Crocker's Cooky Book that I think my sister picked up for me at Goodwill. In the back, there were recipes of the year starting in the 30's I think...and lo and behold, there in full color was GRAMMA'S recipe for cookies....but it was definitely NOT hers! I wish I could have met that recipe-thievin' Gramma, I bet we would have got along famously!
3 C. flour
1-1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 C. applesauce - I'm guessing GM used homemade....but yeah.1 C. water
2/3 C. oil (vegetable, not motor)
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. raisins (for GODS sake, they are just DRIED GRAPES!!)
1 C. nuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients, add remaining ingredients and mix until moist. Pour into 9x13 pan (I'm going to assume you grease and flour the pan...doesn't say) and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Wasn't that easy?
So yeah, you could frost this, put whipped cream or Cool Whip on it, sprinkle with powdered sugar, top with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, lather it with hard sauce while it's still warm, or just cut in in big ol' squares and stuff it in your face....that's the beauty of it, you do what you like. And stop whining about the raisins...if you don't like them, go see if there's any of that goat lentil crap left....sounds better already, huh?
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