Warm Gingerbread with Applesauce

This one is straight from my parent's inn and is a wonderful excuse to bring applesauce to the table.

Yield: serves 10

4 c. flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
1 c. sugar
1 c. squash purée (or pumpkin)
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 c. vegetable oil*
1 c. molasses
3 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1 c. boiling water

Butter a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with flour.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat the eggs and sugar together and mix in the squash, fresh ginger, oil, molasses, and spices.

Mix in the boiling water (make sure the water is boiling so that it activates the baking soda). Mix in the dry incredients and pour into the prepared pan. Bake at 350˚ for about 50 minutes, or until a knife placed in the center comes out clean.

Serve with a puddle of warm applesauce and a generous dollop of whipped cream.

*You can also try substituting the oil for applesauce

Applesauce

Yield: roughly 4.5 cups

2.5 lbs. apples (I like to use apples with red skin, which I leave on so the sauce has a sweet, rosy color)
1/4 c. water
1 cinnamon stick

Rinse apples, remove stems and seeds, then cut into small chunks. Toss apples into a stock pot, pour on water, add cinnamon stick and turn the heat on low. Check every now and then to see that the bottom of the pan is not getting scorched-- if it is, by all means, turn the heat down! The apples will cook and cook, becoming pulpy as the mass simmers down. When the fruit has mostly disintegrated, after about 45 minutes to an hour, remove pot from heat. You can either serve the applesauce as is, sort of "chunky," or I like to put half of the batch through a food mill. I then combine the purée with the "chunky" and enjoy the sauce for the next week.