SPICED POUND CAKE

Last night we came home early from work ate early and guess what? I was bored. My hubby knows that my boredom means trouble for him so he was hiding in the TV room pretending to be grossly involved in a political forum or something.   What to do????? I decided to bake a cake. That always takes my boredom away. "What to bake?" was the question..... There are so many cookie and cake recipes to make for the holidays,  its mind boggling. I like anything with ginger in it. So I decided to bake a spice cake. The alchemist in me decided to mix all my favorite spices together since this was going to be an experiment. I took  all the spices out of the cupboard. I mixed them in a small jar with my cute measuring spoons (look at the last three, labeled, "dash", "pinch" and "smidgen")
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*Spice mixture:

 1 tbsp cinnamon

 1/2 tbsp ground cloves

 1/2 tbsp ground ginger

 1 tsp nutmeg

 1 dash (1/2 tsp) powdered anise 

 1 dash cardamom

 1 dash allspice

They are all in that little jar on the left. I wanted to bake  a very light and easy cake. A second look in my refrigerator indicated that I didn't have molasses which is a must for spice cake. What to do???? I found my apricot sauce which I had made this spring when apricots were abundant (same recipe as apple sauce).

Take my word for it,  the sauce made the difference, the cake turned out to be very moist (I think applesauce would do the same thing).

Ingredients for my version of this Ginger Pound Cake:

1 1/2 Cups of flour

1 Cup of Sugar

1 whole egg

 1/2 tsp of *spice mixture 

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1 pinch of salt

1 Cup apricot sauce mixed with 1/2 cup of water (total of 1 1/2 cups)

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add shortening, egg and apricot sauce. Mix everything with your mixer's high speed for 5 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl. Pour into a well greased and floured pan and  bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. (I did the tooth pick method to test for donnes). The aromas wafting from the kitchen persuaded my husband to come in  and ask me if I wanted to have cup of coffee with this deliciously aromatic cake. When I sliced it,  it was amazingly moist and with each bite we were marveling at the taste of all the spices. Needles to say my house was starting to smell like Christmas...