Serves 12                             Easy

It is a cold, snowy morning here in Denver and I am looking for something special to make for breakfast. I remembered this recipe so I dug it out. It looks like the perfect comfort food for today. I love the smell of something baking on a snowy day. So, I am heading off to wake my kids to the smell of a fresh coffee cake in the oven and maybe some hot tea. If this is as good as I remember, I may bake it for my son’s class breakfast tomorrow.

Cooking spray

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

10 gratings of fresh nutmeg

Dash of ground cloves

Dash of ground allspice

½ cup raisins

2 to 4 tbsp walnuts, toasted and chopped

¾ cup date sugar or coconut sugar

1 large egg

1 ¼ cups applesauce

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Decide on the pan: a 9-inch bundt cake pan or an 8”x4” loaf pan. Spray the selected pan with cooking spray. Dust each pan with a little flour, knock out the excess, and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Reserve 1 tbsp of the flour mixture and place it in a small bowl along with the raisins and the walnuts. Toss this mixture well, and set both bowls aside.

Combine the date sugar with the egg, applesauce, oil, and vanilla and, using a wooden spoon, beat the flour mixture together with the applesauce mixture. Stir in the raisins and walnuts and spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the cake tests clean with a toothpick; the top will still appear a little glossy and feel sticky-tacky to the touch – 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inner edges of the pan, and invert onto the rack with a sharp rap. Let cool completely, then either tightly cover with plastic wrap for storage in the refrigerator or freezer or place on a serving plate and serve.