Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Applesauce Cake

So, I don't bake as much as I should. Mainly because I love, LOVE baked goodies and will eat them to excess if they are around. But, thanks to some inspiration that was posted on Facebook this month and a recent bout of kickboxing workouts that make me feel like I can eat sweets and get away with it, I have created... the best cake in the universe.

Ok. I have to give most of the credit to a blogger I am a little bit in love with. Smitten Kitchen is like smoothly seductive food porn and I can't. stop. looking at it. Some well-meaning Facebook friend posted a link to her Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and I happen to have an abundance of apples from the orchard just a mile down the road. I had to give it a whirl. I don't follow recipes very often, but I followed hers fairly closely and was so impressed by the results I knew I wanted to play with it some more. I've made about seven batches of it now and shared some of the various results with family and friends and I've come up with a spin on a luscious applesauce cake that will be sure to please you and yours.

I did make my own applesauce to go into this dish, with the help of my two grade-school-aged sous chefs, but you can use any applesauce you like. I added some extra spices and molasses to the cake and drizzled it with melted semi-sweet chocolate instead of frosting. The result is moist, spicy, chocolaty heaven with less sugar and more fiber than your usual everyday cake. I may never bother to make any other cake. Ever.

Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Applesauce Cake

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs ground ginger

3-4 tbs fresh ginger juice (grate ginger than squeeze out the juice through a strainer or add another tbs of ground ginger.)

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp pepper (adds the perfect kick to the ginger, believe it!)

1 stick of softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup natural unbleached sugar (sucanat or turbinado will add a little extra flavor.)

1/2 cup blackstrap molasses

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (check your extract to make sure it doesn't have any sweeteners or fillers in it. This will make a huge difference in this and other recipes.)

2 eggs (I got mine from a neighbor who raises chickens, but I will buy cage-free from the store.)

1 1/2 cups of unsweetened applesauce

4 bars of semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted. (I boil water in a pan then set a bowl on top of it and stir the chunked up bars until they melt.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake pan. In a small bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the dry spices. In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar, molasses, vanilla and fresh ginger juice at high speed until well combined. Add the eggs and applesauce and again mix thoroughly. Add in the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until it is combined. Spread the batter in your pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then remove from the pan onto a cooling rack. If you are serving it immediately, put it onto a plate, drizzle with the chocolate and serve it warm. Now you are forever done with dry, boring cakes and you too can delight in having created the best cake in the universe. Or at least pretty darn close.

Peanut Butter Puppy Bento

This is one of my girlies' favorite bento lunches. I create the puppy's face from whole wheat bread and peanut butter, using dried fruit for the eyes, nose and tongue. I used a dried plum for the one in this picture, but a dried cherry works really nicely too. The puppy is resting on a bed of kibble, which I usually make from pretzels, nuts, granola and other small crunchy things. The bones are cut out of apple slices and placed with some cherry tomatoes on some sweet, crunchy carrot slaw. I mix a shredded carrot with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of honey and a sprinkle of salt.

If you're in the Columbus, Ohio area and would like to learn how to create this bento, come to Sprout Soup at 4310 North High St. tomorrow (November 17th) at 11am for my "Build-a-Bento" workshop. It's only $10 and you will get hands-on experience making your own peanut butter puppy, which you can take home or eat for lunch along with some kibble and carrot slaw.

Visit Sprout Soup's website for more information: www.sproutsoup.com

Butternut Squash Soup

Probably the ultimate in super-simple and super-nutritious comfort food, butternut squash soup is my all-time favorite thing to do with squash. This isn't just a staple food in the fall, it's practically a sacred tradition of mine. Taking that last, beautiful, locally grown butternut squash and turning it into creamy, velvety heaven is something I savor each and every year.

Creating this soup is so simple your kids can do it. It's so delicious, even squashophobes can (sometimes) tolerate it. The variations and possibilities are endless so it's a wonderful dish for those creative cooks who like something new to play with.

Unless I have a huge, ginormous squash to cook, I usually cook squash whole. This allows more of the delicious flavor in the seeds and pulp to permeate the rest of the tender flesh and it's much easier than trying to cut open a squash when it is still fresh and hard as a rock. I wash the squash and stick it in the oven at about 375 for 40 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the size. Turn down the heat a little if it starts to brown too much on the outside. You can tell when it is done by sticking in a fork. The squash shouldn't show any resistance to your prodding and if the side of the veggie starts to cave in a bit when you stab it, you know it's ready to go.

Cut your soft, gooshy squash in half and scoop out everything seedy or stringy. Spoon the flesh straight into your blender or food processor as hot as you can handle it. Add enough milk or soymilk to blend it into a nice, creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and if you'd like to step it up a notch... your choice of the following:

1. Cinnamon and nutmeg plus honey and/or molasses - this version will taste sweet and somewhat like a pumpkin pie soup. Top with toasted pecans, cinnamon and if you like it extra sweet drizzle some maple syrup on too.

2. Cumin, turmeric and garlic powder for a curry-flavored soup! Top with sour cream, pepitos and dip some toasted pita bread in.

3. Fresh ginger, fresh garlic, a dash of soy sauce and topped with caramelized onions. A taste sensation! Grate the ginger then squeeze through a strainer into the blender. Put a clove or two of fresh garlic into your garlic press and squeeze it right in.

Add any ingredients you'd like, then blend the soup until it is smooth and pour it immediately into bowls and serve. It should still be warm and ready to be enjoyed.

Roast Chicken with Vegetables

This is my family's favorite comfort food meal. The smell of chicken roasting in the house is enough to send my husband and daughters into fits of "I love my mom" and "What a wonderful wife I have." and torrents of gratitude for my apt domesticity. I'm no June Cleaver. But, when my children are joyous over a home-made meal of roast chicken and vegetables I feel like the best mom in the world.

My dear, sweet, food-phobic husband absolutely hates his veggies. He will generally very begrudgingly eat whatever I put in front of him as long as it doesn't contain anything remotely cruciferous or fungi. But, the complex flavors and comfortable textures of a roasted melange makes him go back for seconds and thirds sometimes. I can even put greens - cut into tiny pieces and not too much - into the mix and not get a single hesitation from him. That's gold baby.

I prefer to roast chickens whole. I'd love to say I buy them all local and raised by a friend who I know spoils her chickens rotten with organic feed and room to roam and eat bugs. Unfortunately, the price is prohibitive for us right now and I usually make due with store bought. I do try and buy free-range or organic when I can. I steer clear of chicken that is some percentage brine because it can make up to 15% of the weight of the chicken you are buying and I don't want to pay for salt water. I prefer to brine my own chicken - either overnight or for a few hours. It really makes a big difference in how nicely the chicken cooks up and how tender and juicy it is. I fill a bowl or bag halfway with water then add 1/2 cup of Real Salt, 1/2 cup sugar (whatever kind you use is fine. I use unbleached organic, but turbinado or sucanat works nicely) a splash of apple cider vinegar and a splash of Braggs (or tamari or soy sauce). You can add other things to your brine like garlic cloves, herbs, lemon juice, peppercorns. I don't usually do it unless I'm brining overnight and even then I usually prefer to add those flavors while the chicken is cooking.

After brining, take your chicken out and let it rest and dry off a bit. Set your oven to broil. Slather your chicken or chicken pieces with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper, dried herbs, coriander, paprika and a little salt - you won't need a lot because of the brining. Put the chicken or chicken pieces face down in a pan and cover with tin foil. Let it roast for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes while you cut up some veggies.

I always use potatoes - I was lucky enough to get a huge sack of them from a farmer at the market for only $7 that should last us well into the winter. I've got it in a potato sack in my basement pantry where it will stay cool and should keep well. Any that sprout will get put into my garden next spring. You can add any combination of veggies along with the potatoes as long as they are cut uniformly. I'll use carrots, parsnips, green beans, onions, zucchini, swiss chard (which I'm still getting from the garden if you can believe it!) peppers, corn, fresh garlic, squash, tomatoes. Whatever I have available gets put into the mix. Pull out the pan of chicken and turn over. Surround the chicken with the veggie pieces and add about a cup of chicken stock or broth (a little white wine tastes nice too...). Turn your oven down to low broil and recover the pan with tin foil and cook for 45mins to an hour and a half depending on if you have a whole chicken, half chicken or pieces. You can take the pan out and check the temp of the chicken and stir the veggies around. When the chicken is about 150 degrees and the liquid in the veggies is starting to disappear I like to add a little fresh herbs if I got 'em. Then turn the oven back up to high broil and roast the chicken uncovered until the skin is brown and crispy. Remove the chicken and let it rest on a plate (under the tin-foil if you've still got it) while you roast the veggies a little longer until liquid is gone and there is browning on the potatoes and other veggies.

Serve, and reap the sweet, sweet rewards of your epic culinary finesse.