Applesauce Cake

So, despite the fact that I have a midterm coming up in a few days and a paper due on Monday, I decided I needed to take a break. So I baked this applesauce cake via Elise of Simply Recipes. Baking for me is very therapeutic, and is a good distraction. I can't tell you how good this cake smelled. My whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and spice. And it tasted yummy :-) Here's the recipe:

Applesauce cake from Elise.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter and flour an 8-in square baking pan, set aside.

2 Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

3 In an electric mixer, beat butter until light, add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Add the vanilla and the applesauce and beat until smooth.

4 Mix in half of the dry ingredients. Just before they are blended, add the buttermilk. Then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients, until completely incorporated. Do not over-mix.

5 Pour out the batter into your prepared cake pan. Place in the middle rack of the 375°F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until done. The cake should spring back to the touch, and a toothpick or thin skewer should come out clean after being inserted in various spots in the middle of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven. Let cool for 15 minutes. Then invert to cool completely on a rack.

I didn't bake my cake long enough, so make sure yours is done, especially in the middle.