Fake Baking: The Applesauce Bundt Cake

Confession: I am a bit of a snob when it comes to food. Secretly, I don't think that desserts made with boxed mixes qualify as real baking, and secretly, I don't think that food made from assembled prepared foods constitutes real cooking.

But there is a season to all things under Heaven. The season you reach me at right now is the season of cooking = preheating the oven so that I can stick in the frozen pizza, or boiling the water for the top ramen. (Okay maybe not always, but enough of the time... tonight we had a massive fresh veggie and chicken curry from scratch over brown rice, so we do have our redemptive moments).

But welcome to my most favorite Fake Baking recipe ever: The Fake Baking Applesauce Bundt Cake. This recipe is so good, so easy, and so convincingly beautiful that we invested in a bundt pan for the occasion. Thanks to our new friend Tracy for introducing us to the goodness...

Photo courtesy of womensday.com

Applesauce Bundt Cake

¼ Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 2/3 Cup applesauce
1 pkg yellow cake mix
3 eggs

Stir together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Grease bundt pan and dust with about 2 tsp cinnamon and sugar mixture. Blend cake mix, applesauce, and eggs. Pour half of the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the layer of batter with the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture. Top with reserved batter. Bake at 350 for ~40 minutes (as per box) or until a knife comes out clean. Cool in pan before removing. Serve plain, with icing, or with frosting. But really? The applesauce makes the cake so moist that even eaten plain, it will knock your socks off...