Johnny Appleseed Cake {Inspired by WDW Liberty Tree Tavern}

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It’s Day 5 of 12 Days of Blogmas and we’re talking HOLIDAY BAKING!! Everyone knows I’m a cookie lover and the holidays obviously means COOKIES, BUT that’s not what I’m sharing today. I know that’s a shocker coming from this cookie monster. Today I’m sharing a recipe for Johnny Appleseed Cake.

WHAT THE HECK IS JOHNNY APPLESEED CAKE?

A few years back my family and I went to one of the most Magical Places in the world, you may have heard of it, I don’t know… Walt Disney World?

Anyway, the first night that we stayed we ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. Liberty Tree Tavern has a colonial feel with meals that are served family style. There was turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and then there was Johnny Appleseed Bread Pudding.

I had never, ever, ever, ever had this dessert in my life, but I was instantly in love. We talked about it for days, months, a year after our visit. I decided to finally make it for myself. So, last year I got to researching (aka Pinterest) and found a few recipes, but some called for canned pie filling (which doesn’t seem colonial), others used raisins, and most if not all did not call for ginger. Ginger! I’m pretty sure the taste that lingered in my mouth was ginger. I decided to pick and choose what I liked from the different recipes and then added my own spin. It was a success!!

Here’s What You Need To Make Johnny Appleseed Cake

Preheat your oven to 350*

How to make Johnny Appleseed Cake

• In a large bowl add all your dry ingredients excluding the dry cranberries.
• In a sauce pan combine applesauce and butter and cook on low to medium heat until butter melts thoroughly. Not applesauces are created equally, some are sweeter than others, for this cake I actually prefer a sweeter sauce. This isn’t an overly sweet cake. The applesauce I used this time around wasn’t as sweet, but still worked perfectly because the toppings we added at the end were sweet, so we wouldn’t have wanted everything too sweet. Also, cinnamon applesauce works nicely too. 😉
• Add the applesauce butter mixture to the dry ingredients stirring in the dried cranberries and grated ginger. Ginger is totally optional, but I like the spice. You can go with less ginger if you would like, but I honestly think you need the ginger.
• Grease your pan. (I use a 10 inch Le Creuset Stoneware Pie Dish)
• Pour your cake mixture into the pan and cook at 350* for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle with powered sugar
• Top with fresh cranberry sauce and ice cream. (Butter and powdered sugar are also good with this cake)

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• Enough water to cover the cranberries around 2 1/2 cups

Directions

• Add cranberries and water to your sauce pan
• Make sure the water covers the cranberries but not too much.
• Let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce the temperature (medium or medium-low)
• Add seasoning and sugar
• Simmer for about 3-5 minutes
• Mash with potato masher
• That’s it. That’s all you have to do. And this is way better than the can stuff. 🙂

Enjoy!

Have you ever been to Disney World? And if yes, what’s your favorite food item? Did you just say Dole Whip? 🙂

 

See more holiday baking from the Blogmas bloggers!

• Christmas Cupcakes by Girl on the Move Blog
• St. Louis Style Gooey Butter Cake Cookies by STLMotherhood
• Salted Caramel Pretzel Turtles by Ripped Jeans and Bifocals
• Easy Santa Cookies by Dear Creatives
• Holiday Baking or in My Case No Baking by Urban Housewife Adventures
• Gingerbread Man Rice Krispie Treats by Views From a Step Stool

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