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: Cheese Potato Crisps

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 make-but I haven’t gone through them as quickly as I hoped.

When we completed The Magician’s Nephew and 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 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.

Party time!

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 Kellogg’s Cookbook.

These are better than French fries! We guarantee that once you try them, you’ll make these cheesy potatoes a standard at your table. Using different cheeses such as Monterey Jack, American, Swiss, or grated Parmesan cheese, and a bit of chili powder easily adds variety and keeps the dish interesting.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes
• 3 Large Baking Potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
• Salt to taste
• 1 Cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Paprika
• 1/4 Cup of Sliced Scallions or Green Onions
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Place the corn flakes in a reusable plastic bag.
2. Seal the bag and, using a rolling pin, crush the flakes to a medium crumb.
3. Open the bag and measure the crumbs, you should have 1 cup. Set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Lightly coat a large baking sheet with Non-Stick Cooking Spray.
6. Lay the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Lightly coat with Non-Stick Cooking Spray.
7. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt to taste.
8. Sprinkle each potato with some of the cheese.
9. Top with corn flake crumbs and a sprinkling of paprika.
10. Bake in the preheated oven, without turning, for about 25 mins, or until potatoes are cooked through and golden brown.
11. Remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter.
12. Serve with scallions or green onions.

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!

They may not be boiled but they are most excellent indeed!

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Rice Krispies Chocolate Chip Cookies

For more potato recipes, go to What Excellent Boiled Potatoes

For more recipes, go to Hummus and Veggie Sandwiches

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

Spill the Tea: Caroline’s Coffee Roaster

Last year I took my niece to Reno to celebrate her birthday, and of course I had to stop at a tea place (or two). I choose the Laughing C. A. T. Cafe, as I love Cats, but unfortunately I did not have a fun experience there. 

The following day we went to the Bubble Tea Station in Midtown and had a much better experience.

When we left Reno, we decided to stop in Grass Valley, CA for dinner. It was hard trying to find a place as California in 2021, almost everything was takeaway and after driving we all just wanted some time to not be in the car. Quite a few places had spaces outside but contrary to most people’s beliefs California is not warm year round, as in Northern CA it is freezing in February. So after driving around to a few different places we decided to try downtown. Downtown we ran into even more issues as we had all forgotten it was Super Bowl Sunday and lots of restaurants that did offer dine-in were packed with sports fans.

As we searched for a place to eat that we could be seated immediately, I spotted Caroline’s Coffee Roasters and had to have us stop there.

I recognized the name of the the place as the year before I was gifted some tea from Caroline’s Coffee Roasters. I had looked the website up and it seemed like a cute little place to go to.

Caroline’s Coffee Roasters began as a health food store and beekeeping supply shop back in the 1980s. Caroline Fike bought the shop and changed the name to Caroline’s Honey Spice and Everything Nice. A couple years later her husband and son decided to incorporate the coffee roasting and the name was changed to Carolines Coffee Roasters. It still remains a family owned business today.

We arrived at Caroline’s Coffee Roster at 5:15 and the shop closes at 5:30. We asked if it was still okay for us to shop, as I understand what it is like when you need to close and you have last minute people there, but they said it was fine for us to be there and spend the remaining 15 minutes shopping.

The shop was absolutely adorable and cute! It had a variety of tea and coffee that you could purchase (and are available online); along with little gifts such as mugs, travel cups, stickers, gift baskets, etc.

They also had a cute little tree in the window for people to leave a note about what they were most thankful for in world amidst all the craziness of 2020 and 2021.

I of course had to add that I was thankful for tea.

In the end I ordered Ruby Lemon Mint tea and a cute hiking stamp for a friend’s birthday. The tea was fantastic (I tried a bit to taste test it, of course-you can’t give your friend untested tea). It was delicious and the staff was super friendly and sweet. They provided great assistance as I tried to choose the tea my friend would enjoy the most. I would not only go there again, but I know any time I go to Grass Valley I will be stopping by here.

For Valentine’s Day, a friend of mine gifted me some of their Princess Grey Tea and it was absolutely delicious.

Again I recommend the tea and the shop if you are ever in Grass Valley.

For more tea house reviews, go to Spill the Tea: Bubble Tea Station

For more tea posts, go to How to Make Royal Milk Tea