PROCRASTIBAKING, IT'S A THING

It's true. Sit me down to a trimester of statistics and instead, I am well into organising my tax receipts, have started a household cle...

It's true. Sit me down to a trimester of statistics and instead, I am well into organising my tax receipts, have started a household clean-out on a scale never seen before and am enjoying a season of procrastibaking.

katiecrackernuts.blogspot.com.au || 1972 Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes recipe book harvest apple cake
My colleagues are all the better for it because even I, with limited mathematical ability, can work out that an entire cake can not be metabolised by sitting on my ever-widening butt and studying.

They're not complaining and are happy to indulge my baking adventures through a 1972 Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes cook book I picked up for $2 on a trip back from Goulburn last month. 

Thus far the results have had the thumbs up and as I procrastibake, I'll share the recipes, with a few of my own 2017 adjustments.

HARVEST APPLE CAKE

This comes from the "Savory Spice Cakes" section of Pies and Cakes but don't fear, it's not savoury at all. Rather, it's a lovely moist butter cakes studded with plump raisins and nuts and apple frosting.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg (about a quarter of a teaspoon)
quarter of a cup of brown sugar
half a cup of soft (or melted) butter
1 cup apple juice
1.5 cups of apple, skin off and chopped
2 eggs
half a cup of raisins
half a cup of chopped walnuts

ICING INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons soft (NOT melted) butter
1 cup icing mixture
half a teaspoon vanilla
one or two tablespoons apple juice (add one at a time and check for consistency after the first tablespoon)
desiccated coconut (half a cup, but more or less if you want)

WHAT TO DO

Preheat your oven to 180C. Sift the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices together. Stir in the brown sugar. Add the butter, apple juice and apple and beat with an electric mixer on a medium speed for about 2mins until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir through the raisins and nuts. 

Now here's where it gets tricky. The recipe says bake in a 13x9x2-inch pan for 30-35mins. I had a regular square cake pan and found I needed to bake for 40mins, turn the heat down to 160C and bake another 15mins. The cake turned out beautifully, but do watch it. I checked twice by sticking a skewer in to see if it came out clean and turned it once in the baking to ensure the cake was cooking through evenly. 

Let the cake cool, turn it our and then make your icing. This is a soft icing, but because I was carrying on a train into work, I stiffened it with coconut. The taste and texture was just right for the moist, fruity cake. Simply mix the soft butter with the icing mixture and vanilla and add the apple juice a little at a time to make sure it doesn't become too runny. I shook in about half a cup of coconut, but it's up to you as to whether you want a soft or stiffer - not harder - topping.

katiecrackernuts.blogspot.com.au || 1972 Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes recipe book pages for chiffon pies
It will be some time before my baking adventures have me whipping up "Fluffy Chiffon Pies" (whatever they are) but so far, so good. The Better Homes and Gardens recipe book has delivered.

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