Why applesauce at all is the question I have? Are you just trying to cut fat from your diet? Exactly. You could also use yoghurt in place of the buttermilk - the important thing is IMHO is to have the acid reacting with the bicarbonate *in the batter* not before - otherwise lots of that gas that gives the beautiful crumb is just being wasted. You need the carbon dioxide being produced in the cake, not in the air I actually tried greek yogurt before experimenting with the applesauce.. the results were less than desirable. I actually forgot what the results were - I think it was very dense and wet.. oh, and did you make the original recipe as described so you have an idea what the 'standard' result is in your oven under your conditions? Yup with the exception of the buttermilk but it came out fine Sweetened applesauce will make everything too sweet....and it's bringing more liquid sugar to the party, changing the ratios of the original recipe even more. Taking note of this, I strained out most of the liquid in the applesauce. Results below. Why not use part strained greek yogurt and part applesauce? I didn't have any cheesecloth or any coffee filters to strain the greek yogurt (my fine mesh colander wasn't helpful. it did strain the applesauce though) but I did try the half-and-half combination. Results below. Do not use margarine. Why? The one that I bought has no transfat in it.. If you don't want to use butter then get some coconut oil that is solid at room temp and works like butter in cakes, etc. I'm trying to avoid using any sort of fat in this recipe, so coconut oil is out of the question. If it turns out that I just can't get it to work without fat, I'll use minimal fat as possible (in this case I'd stick with the I can't believe it's not butter! margarine, since the total fat is just 5g (8%) where as the coconut oil is 14g (21%) - is surprisingly higher than butter (12g, 18%). So anyway, I tried 2 different batches this time (and I took in everyone's suggestion): Note: I poured the vinegar and baking soda combination directly into the batter (as suggested). Attempt 4 - more vinegar, 1/2 (strained) applesauce + 1/2 greek yogurt (in place of the oil). Results : not as wet but there's still the rubbery texture. Picture : http://s23.postimg.org/h5varimob/20140123_105541.jpg Attempt 5 - more vinegar, greek yogurt (in place of the oil). Results : crumby but still kind of dense. Picture : http://s21.postimg.org/kiqrsvy6f/20140123_105633.jpg Other possible experiments (different combinations of the following): - try buttermilk - strain greek yogurt - try unsweetened applesauce (I'm pretty sure I'm still going to get the rubbery texture regardless) - half margarine + greek yogurt
