Apple sauce is a very versatile ingredient that can be used to replace oil and butter in certain recipes. For this easy recipe it adds flavour and moisture.
I have nothing but positive things to say about this recipe!! It's great!! I omitted the raisins (unfortunately, my family does not care for them like I do) and spread cream cheese frosting overall. OHHHH sooo good!! Thanks Corwynn for sharing this one...its a keeper! - 22 Oct 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Wow! I just baked this cake an hour ago, and had to write a review. I was nervous about baking a cake with no eggs, or milk so I was expecting the worst. It came out GREAT. I changed a lot of the recipe - I added about 3/4 cup of cocoa powder w/the dry ingredients, omitted the raisins/cloves, used about a half cup extra of applesauce, and about a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and baked it in a small round springform pan. I topped it with a simple glaze (ref: vanilla glaze recipe on this site), and then sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar. It came out fantastic this is a great recipe to get creative with - Thanks for posting! - 29 Nov 2006 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
I gave this cake 5 stars even though mine didn't turn out the way I expected, which was my own fault--I used Spenda instead of white sugar and the cake did not rise well. The flavor is still excellent, but I have a very dense cake. It is recommended that for cakes to use an 8" pan instead of 9" and add 1/2 c. non-fat dry milk and 1/2 tsp. soda for every cup of Spenda. Wish I would have checked into this before! Also, I left out the raisins, would be better with walnuts I think. - 29 Jul 2005 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)