Baby's First Applesauce Cake and Petit Fours

This is from Martha Stewart's Kids magazine. They developed it to be tasty for adults and good for one year olds to eat. You could probably give it to younger babies who are eating solid or sort of solid food, too. I cut this in half and used two 9"x13" pans instead of two 13"x18". The cake ends up being about 8" square with 4 layers or 2 layers. We cut our "half cake" into 16 pieces, so I am estimating 32 pieces for the larger, although I think it would be hard to cut the pieces that small. :) Plus the larger version makes 20 petit fours. Cook time does not include cooling time.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 52
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• 2  cups canola oil or 2  cups  safflower oil, plus some for pans
• 6  cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4  teaspoons baking soda
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4  cups unsweetened applesauce
• 2 2⁄3 cups pure maple syrup
• 1⁄4 cup cider vinegar
• 0.25 (12 ounce) package  frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Oil two 13"x18" rimmed baking sheets; line with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl.
3. Whisk applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vinegar, and apple juice concentrate in another bowl. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined.
4. Divide batter between prepared sheets. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester (toothpick if you're not Martha) inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
5. Cool in the pans on wire racks 10 minutes, then invert and remove parchment. Reinvert (turn it so pretty top is on top again) onto a large cutting board lined in parchment. Let cool completely.
6. Cakes can be stored at this point, wrapped in plastic, overnight.
7. Cut a 3" strip off the long (18") side of each cake (for petit fours). Cut remaining portion in half crosswise and trim into four 8" squares (for adult cake).
8. For adult cake: Stack square cakes on a square piece of cardboard, spreading Apricot Whip (Recipe #238540) between them (or whatever filling, jam, or frosting you want). Spread a very thin layer of Apricot Frosting (Recipe #238541) on top and sides, smoothing with offset spatula (or use your own frosting, of course). Decorate as you wish.
9. For Petit Fours: Trim cake strips to 3"x15". Spread Apricot Whip (Recipe #238540) on one strip; top with remaining strip. Cut into twenty 1 1/2" squares. Top half with squares cut from Soft Apple Slices (Recipe #238883). Pipe dot of frosting onto other half, or decorate in some other manner.