Baby's First Applesauce Cake And Petit Fours

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups canola oil or 2 cups safflower oil, plus some for pans
• 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 2 2/3 cups pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 0.25 (12 ounce) package frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375 degree f. oil two 13"x18" rimmed baking sheets; line with parchment paper and set aside.
• 2 whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
• 3 whisk applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, and apple juice concentrate in another bowl. add to flour mixture and mix until combined.
• 4 divide batter between prepared sheets. bake until pale golden and a cake tester (toothpick if you're not martha) inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
• 5 cool in the pans on wire racks 10 minutes, then invert and remove parchment. reinvert (turn it so pretty top is on top again) onto a large cutting board lined in parchment. let cool completely.
• 6 cakes can be stored at this point, wrapped in plastic, overnight.
• 7 cut a 3" strip off the long (18") side of each cake (for petit fours). cut remaining portion in half crosswise and trim into four 8" squares (for adult cake).
• 8 for adult cake: stack square cakes on a square piece of cardboard, spreading apricot whip (apricot whip) between them (or whatever filling, jam, or frosting you want). spread a very thin layer of apricot frosting (apricot frosting) on top and sides, smoothing with offset spatula (or use your own frosting, of course). decorate as you wish.
• 9 for petit fours: trim cake strips to 3"x15". spread apricot whip (apricot whip) on one strip; top with remaining strip. cut into twenty 1 1/2" squares. top half with squares cut from soft apple slices (soft apple slices). pipe dot of frosting onto other half, or decorate in some other manner.