{TWD} Applesauce (hint of) Spice Bars Cake

This week's recipe for TWD, Applesauce Spice Bars, sounded intriguing to me; I was imagining blonde brownies but with a spicy, apple-y edge. But at the same time, looking at the bars in the cookbook, with their little blanket of glaze, they were giving off a "cake" vibe. How to know the true nature of this baked good? Only one way to find out: bake them up and see!

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe calls for applesauce as well as chopped fresh apples. I used a variety of apples: I made applesauce on the stovetop with Pink Lady apples and honey, and for the chopped apple, I chose 1 small Granny Smith and added 1/4 Mackintosh apple.


- Why use light brown sugar when you have dark brown sugar is what I say!

- For the optional liquor note I used brandy (but the flavor was undetectable once the bars were baked)

- I substituted whole wheat for about 1/4 of the white flour

- I put half the batter in 8x8 pan, resulting in bars that were brownie depth (but I forgot to take any pictures of them) and the other half batter in a 6" springform which produced double thickness wedge-shaped "bars."

- Right after I put the pans in the oven I tasted the batter left in the bowl and wished I'd added extra spices.

- My bars cooked very quickly. They came out of the pan pretty dense, but after an overnight sit, they got rather soft and cake-like.

- My plan was to freeze the bars, so I made just enough of the brown sugar glaze for one or two bars - 1/5 recipe. The glaze was delicious; very caramelly in flavor. I ended up wishing I'd made more glaze because the bars never made it to freezer at all! I gave one pan of the bars away to a friend whose mother-in-law was hospitalized, and my husband ate the other pan for breakfasts several mornings.

- I got interrupted at the glazing stage, and it was hours later before I spread the glaze on the bar, so it didn't really look that great:


the verdict:

My husband straddled the bar/cake issue masterfully; after taking his first bite, he said, "good apple recipe." In fact the (unglazed) bars made a great breakfast treat for him.

I thought the unglazed bars were pleasant, but liked this Rye Apple Cake better. But in truth, I like more spice in my apple baked goods than either of the recipes has. However, adding the glaze produced made a big difference.

My husband had the single glazed portion for dessert with ice cream and found it a synergistic experience. In fact, he likened it to eating a "Grillswith" (grilled glazed donut with vanilla ice cream) at the old University Diner in Charlottesville, VA (the UD is no more, but Charlottesville's denizens can still get a Grillswith at the equally greasy White Spot diner - home of the "Gusburger"). The glaze - and ice cream! - really take the bars to a higher flavor plane than the elements can reach on their own.

Good as these applesauce bars were - and I'd put them squarely on the cake side of the fence - what I really ended up wanting was a true chewy bar with apple and spice flavors. Someday I'd like to experiment with that.


This week's recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie was chosen by Karen of Something Sweet by Karen (find the recipe in her post), or, better yet, buy your own copy of Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours!