Books, Tea, and the Trinity: Applesauce Cake

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through the Chronicles of Narnia and are currently working through the Lorien Legacies. When we started I resolved to share all the recipes, we have made-but I haven’t gone through them as quickly as I hoped.

When we completed The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and A Horse and His Boy; we moved on to book 4 Prince Caspian. This book is one of my favorites in the series as I love Prince Caspian (although the Disney film version is horrible). Like A Horse and His Boy, this book did not mention a lot of specific foods, so we planned whatever we wanted to make.

As I wasn’t in charge of this book, there will be no discussion questions, just recipes.

The first week we had Apple Cinnamon Scones: Salmon Radish Cucumber Canapés, Cinnamon Bread-Honey-Cheese-Apple and Ham Sandwiches, Kellogg’s Cheese Potato Crisps, and Applesauce Cake; all paired with Caroline’s Coffee Roaster Princess Earl Grey (as we needed to have some royal-tea).

This recipe comes from my myrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

Cake

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup thick applesauce
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Glaze:

• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

•2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, line bottom with parchment and butter paper.
3. In one bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture.
5. In a separate bowl, stir baking soda into the applesauce.
6. In a third bowl mix the remaining ingredients
7. Add the second and third mixture to the first butter mixture in 3 additions; alternating between the two.
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the top springs back when pressed, about 50 minutes.
9. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack.
10. Make the glaze by mixing the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar.
11. Spoon the glaze over cake.

These are so delicious. You can’t go wrong with potatoes and cheese! This is also easy to make, and doesn’t take that long to bake. I definitely recommend!

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Cheese Potato Crisps

For more cake recipes, go to Lemon Gingerbread Cake

For more dessert, go to Marmalade Rolls

For more recipes, go to Rice Krispies Chocolate Chip Cookies

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: There & Back Again Cafe

Books, Tea, and the Trinity: Apple Cinnamon Scones

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through the Chronicles of Narnia and are currently working through the Lorien Legacies. When we started I resolved to share all the recipes, but since then have decided to rework these posts. Instead of having the book we are reading through at the front of the recipe, I’m changing it to be our tea group’s name: Books, Tea, and the Trinity.

After we finished The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; the next book in the series was A Horse and His Boy. This book was a bit harder to plan recipes as it didn’t have as many starting off points as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but that also meant we could plan whatever we wanted to.

As I wasn’t in charge of this book, there will be no discussion questions, just recipes.

The first week we had Cederberg Tea Co. Classic Red and Red Chai Tea. We also had Apple Cinnamon Scones, Heirloom Tomato Tarts with Basil, and a Waldorf Salad.

This scone recipe comes from the King Arthur Baking Company.

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 8 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup fresh apple, in 1/2″ pieces (about half a medium apple)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Topping

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• milk, for brushing

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
2. Add the butter to the mixture in the bowl, until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.
3. Stir in the chopped apple.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and applesauce.
5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment; if you don’t have parchment, just use a baking without greasing it. Sprinkle a bit of flour atop the parchment or pan. Or use your scone pan.
7. Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment or pan, and divide it in half. Gently pat and round each half into a 5″ to 5 1/2″ circle about 3/4″ thick.
8. To make the topping, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Brush each circle with a bit of water or milk, and sprinkle with the topping.
9. Using a knife, slice each circle into 6 wedges.
10. Place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered.
11. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.
12. Bake the scones for 18 to 22 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.
13. Remove the scones from the oven, and cool briefly on the pan.
14. Enjoy!

These scones were delicious! We instantly devoured them! We had a hard time trying to stop eating.

I also just made them the other day and turned out to be missing some ingredients, having to substitute with more applesauce. The scones were just as good, which is a great marker of the recipe, as the base was strong enough to withstand changes. I highly recommend these scones.

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Spinach Puffs

For more scone recipes, go to Blueberry Yogurt Oat Scones

For more from the King Arthur Baking Company, go to Snickerdoodles

For more recipes, go to How to Make Royal Milk Tea

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: Caroline’s Coffee Roaster