Sourdough Vegan Apple Butter Cake

I have seen parents praising their kids even when the kids are not all that great. I have seen parents who never praise their kids even when they have done a great job (my mom belongs to this category). I have met men who praise their wives' cooking, efficiency, smartness, looks etc. I happen to have married one who can never compliment a person. (Don't worry - my husband never reads what I write and neither do anyone from my family. I can write my mind here - good for me right?)
I have learnt something in my life. If I do a great job, I appreciate myself. I feel proud of myself even if it is just for a while. Not to brag, but it makes me feel good even if it is for couple of minutes. After I ate a slice of this cake, I said out loud 'I am good'. This cake is that good. It is very cloudy here today and there was absolutely no sun light. I was almost thinking of taking pictures and posting it tomorrow. But, kids wanted to eat the cake and I had to slice it up. For those who get discouraged by the word 'sourdough', read the notes to see how to make it without one.

One month back - No knead Whole Wheat Raisin mini buns
Ingredients:
Sourdough Starter - 1 cup (unfed at room temperature 100 % hydration)
All Purpose Flour - 1 2/3 cups
Baking Soda - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Vegetable or Canola Oil - 1/3 cup
Hot water - 1 cup
Apple butter - 1 cup (Room temperature)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (I baked mine at 325 F since I was using a dark bundt pan). Spray a 12 cup (10 inch) bundt pan or a tube pan with vegetable oil spray. You can make this into loaf cakes too. Use 2 8 X 4 or 9 X 5 pans. You will have to alter the baking time though. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt. Whisk together.

In a 4 cup capacity measuring cup, measure 1 cup of sourdough starter (approximately 8 Oz). Add 1 cup of apple butter to the same measuring cup. I added apple butter to the measuring cup till it reached 2 cup line. Add 1/3 cup of oil to the same measuring cup. To the same measuring cup, add 1 cup of hot water. Whisk all the ingredients in the measuring cup well to combine.

 Slowly pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and whisk slowly till all the flour mixture is incorporated. Do not whisk vigorously. Folding works much better.

Pour the batter in to the prepared pan and bake for 45 - 48 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you are baking at 350 F, it might be done before 45 minutes time. So, check at 40 minutes.

Counting Calories..

Notes:
For those who do not maintain a sourdough starter, increase the water by 1/2 cup and flour by 1 cup to make this cake. It will come out just fine. You could pour a thin glaze of powdered sugar if you wish. This cake was pretty sweet without it. It will definitely look prettier if you do. I did not add any additional spices to it since apple butter already has some spices. If you love certain spice, you can add it to suit your palate.
I am sending this to yeastspotting. 

Want to know more options of baking/cooking with sourdough? Check these links out..
Sourdough Banana Aebleskiver / Banana Paniyaram

Sourdough Banana bread with almond butter
Sourdough Chocolate chip muffins  

Vegan Sourdough Pancakes 

Spicy Mint Sourdough Muffin

Sourdough Applesauce Spice Cake  
Sourdough Banana Cake with chocolate chips
Sourdough Chocolate Cake
Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cake
Sourdough Vegan Apple Butter Cake

Whole Wheat and Quinoa Sourdough Bread

Happy Baking!!