Fruit & Vegetable Cakes

Many fruits and vegetables are valuable ingredients in cakes. Chopped apple or apple sauce, puréed prunes, mashed bananas, fresh berries, or ground orange or lemon peel are just a few of the fruit possibilities. Among vegetables, puréed pumpkin and shredded zucchini are old American favorites, while in central Europe, notably Germany, many cakes are made with grated carrot. Other variations include Swedish mashed potato cake and American apple spice cake, tomato cake made with tomato soup, banana nut cake, and apple-dapple cake—an apple coffee cake.