Apple Cinnamon Butterscotch Cake (and a Giveaway)

This blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in a few seconds. If not, click here:
www.dessertswithbenefits.com

I was going to add to the post's title, "and a 'Blogiversary,' " because it has already been six months since my first post ever  (woohoo!) ...  I mean, if a lovey dovey couple can celebrate their two-month anniversary with balloons, a dinner and loads of chocolate, I can celebrate my six month relationship to this blog and you with a tasty recipe and awesome baker's scale giveaway, right?

6 months of happy blogging, 36 delicious recipes, and nearly 100,000 views so far!  This is a happy day.

Isn't it strange reuniting with something?  In mere seconds, you realize how much you've missed it and how long you've been apart.  No, I'm not talking about a boyfriend, I'm talking about my dorm's oven.  I'm not a freak, I swear.  Okay, I half swear.  I never knew how much I loved that old thing until I baked this cake.  All of these no-bake treats recently have given me cravings to open a door leading to 375 degrees of pure, warm love.  I missed setting my kitchen timer.  I missed using my oven mitts.  I missed my adorable little cake tester!

I think I might be suffering from "baker's withdrawal."  I know that exists.  I swear it does . . . or is that the addiction talking?  Anyhow, that totally awesome addiction led me to this recipe (a recipe that required four trials to perfect).  Here is a visual representation of my baking trials:

Trial #1:

     Mmmm, this smelled so delicious while in the oven!  The cinnamon and the oats made it feel like the season was really here (despite the fact that it's still in the 90s here in Arizona!).  As I brought the cake out of the oven, it looked even better.  When I cut into it, it was moist!  What a surprise right?  I wanted to gobble it all up right then and there, but I had to wait until breakfast since it was 11 at night.  By the time the sun came up, I giddily hopped out of bed and ripped the foil off the cake.  Ah, good ... the aroma was still there.  I took a giant fork and demolished about a third of the cake in one swoop, then, chomp.  Hmm, a little bland, but not unbearable.  A few more bites in, I realized the cake was a little on the doughy side.  When I got around to the corner piece, I was saddened to see that it was tough and dry, but that was easily fixed with a drizzle of honey.  After glancing through my pantry, I asked myself, "Why am I making a basic applesauce cake when I have ALL of these extracts?!?"  I have a lot, by the way.  They were the perfect going-away gift for my sophomore year in college.  I have vanilla, maple, almond, hazelnut, chocolate, butter, butterscotch, lemon, orange, coconut, mint and peppermint.  I feel like I'm missing one . . . anyways, what matches well with apple?  I don't know about you, but butterscotch definitely stuck out to me.

Trial #2:

     As soon as I opened the bottle of butterscotch extract, me and my roommate were mesmerized by its fantastic scent.  While the cake was baking in the oven, passerby's stuck there heads in with wide eyes and said, "Whooaa, smells good!"

It made me happy to know that college students could be attracted to a low sugar, low fat, whole grain cake.  And the flavor?  Insanely good, especially compared to the first trial.  It was soft and moist, not tough and dry, but still needed some work.

Trial #3:

     Finally, the perfected recipe!  Even though this is my blog's first, half-birthday, I felt like it was my own since I was the one eating the cake!

Oh, right.  You're are probably wondering how the cake was.  It was deeeelicious!  :D  So moist and packed with cinnamon and butterscotch flavor, not boring and dry like trial #1.  The flavors worked so well together.  And do you know how to make this cake even better?  Leave it overnight!  I don't know how and I don't know why, but something happens to the cake and it becomes even more moist and even more butterscotchey.

*NOTE:  I am so very sorry to those who live at sea-level, I truly am, because this is a high altitude recipe made at about 2,500 feet (and don't attempt to make this unless you change the moisture level!  Otherwise you will get a pile of mush--take it from me, I tried it once)

Apple Cinnamon Butterscotch Cake:  [low fat/sugar, high fiber/protein, GF]

(makes one 8x8" cake)

   Dry:

       192g (2 cups) Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, blended to a flour (GF if you like... or ~1.5 cups oat flour)

       48g (1/2 cup) Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, left whole

       80g (1 cup) Whey Protein Concentrate

       2+1/2 tsp Cinnamon

       1+1/2 tsp Baking Powder

       1/2 tsp Baking Soda

       1/4 tsp Salt

   Wet:

       1/2 cup Unsweetened Soymilk

       369g (1+1/2 cup) Unsweetened Applesauce

       84g (1/4 cup) Honey

       42g (3 tbs) Grapeseed Oil (or any other neutral oil)

       21g (1 tbs) Molasses

       1+1/2 tsp Butterscotch Extract

       1+1/4 tsp Stevia Extract

       1 tsp Vanilla Extract

       2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and spray your pan with cooking spray.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients and let sit for a few minutes.  Pour over the dry ingredients and fold together.  Whisk the batter vigorously for about 20 seconds to break up any flour clumps.

4.  Pour batter into the pan and bake for ~40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

To make this even more decadent, top with my Classic White Icing!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!  And what is more fitting than a baker's scale?  Small, delicate and slim . . . the size of a Kindle, a small book, or a spread out hand.

   

These are my scales . . . mama scale, baby scale.

This is my little beauty.  So clean, so easy to use, and so helpful!  I bought two scales, one black, one white.  I got first pick, of course, and chose black.  First come first serve!  hehe

^^ weighing the oats before blending

Why am I giving away a baker's scale?  Because I always make my desserts with one (especially the baked goods) and for three reasons:

1. Baking is a very precise practice.  For example, flour is a very temperamental ingredient.  One cup of flour will weigh a certain amount on a humid day and a different amount on a dry day.  The weighing of ingredients allows the results I get in my kitchen to be almost identical to the results you will get in your kitchen.
2. It uses less material (mixing bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, utensils, etc).  Measuring three tablespoon of honey can be a pain.  You have to spray the measuring spoon with PAM, and even then not all of it comes out fully.  With a scale, you just squeeze the honey into the mixing bowl, no spoons needed and there is less dish-washing to do.
3. It allows you to make accurate nutrition labels.  Many nutrition labels are not accurate, for example, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder will weigh 32g on my scale rather than 20g they say it is supposed to weigh.  Now, you can add up the exact number of calories, fat, fiber, protein, etc)

And healthy baking is a difficult thing to do.  Some of my recipes, like the Lemon Pound Cake and Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake are touchy recipes--a few grams off of flour could ruin the end result!  That is why I am giving away a baker's scale.  There is nothing worse than seeing pictures of a delicious cake on a blog, and then when you finally bake it, it doesn't turn out as expected.

--GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED--

How to Enter the Baker's Scale Giveaway:

1.  Leave a comment

Yup, that's it!  You don't need to follow me on facebook, twitter, the blog, etc.  But, if you are interested in my healthy recipes, simply follow or sign up for an email subscription on the righthand side bar.

Giveaway Rules:

-one (1) comment (and one only!) per person

-US residents only

Giveaway starts now and ends Monday, October 24th at midnight.  I will use a program that will randomly choose a winner, and will announce the lucky individual on Tuesday, October 25th, so make sure to check back on that date to see if you won!

Again, if you're at sea-level and can't enjoy this cake, I am very sorry . . . but now you have an even better excuse to enter the giveaway and treat yourself!  And to those at 2,500 foot altitude, start baking!  :D