Pick up fresh apples at Apple Barrel Farm Market and bake this moist, spiced apple cake full of classic fall flavor.
Ingredients:
Spice Cake:
- 2¼ cups (270 g) all purpose flour - plain flour in the UK
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ tsp ground ginger - powdered not fresh
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 cups (300 g) finely shredded apples - about two medium to large apples. Any red baking apple will work (Royal Gala, Jazz, Honey Crisp, etc.)
- 1½ cups (300 g) soft light brown sugar - firmly packed
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 cup (210 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- ¼ cup (60 g) whole milk - room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
Apple Filling:
- 1 cup (150 g) finely shredded apple - about 1 medium to large sized apple
- ¼ cup (50 g) soft light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsps cornstarch
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsps lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter
Cream Cheese Buttercream:
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 4½ cups (570 g) powdered sugar - also known as confectioners/icing sugar
- 1½ cups (335 g) cream cheese - cold, firm type
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1½ tbsp lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 3 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8x3 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Using a whisk, mix until well combined. Set aside.
Finely grate two apples (minus the core - see video for how I do this) and measure the grated apple out so you have two cups (300g). Set aside.
In a large bowl combine light brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla and shredded apple from the previous step. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and smooth.
Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix the batter (see note 4).
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 30-33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
Once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack. While cooling, prepare the apple filling and cream cheese frosting.
Apple Filling:
- Add all the ingredients to a saucepan. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and cook until the butter and sugar are completely melted, making sure to stir continuously.
- Cook for another few minutes until the filling is thick. Once ready, place into a bowl to cool.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- To a large bowl add in unsalted butter and using an electric mixer (see note 5 if using a stand mixer) cream for a few minutes on a medium high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add in the powdered sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of powdered sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
- Next add in cold cream cheese, vanilla, fresh lemon juice and cinnamon and mix on a medium speed just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing as the more you mix the softer the frosting will become.
Assembly:
- Using a serrated knife, level the tops of the cake layers so they're nice and flat.
- Place the first cake layer onto your cake stand and place a generous amount of the cream cheese buttercream on top and smooth it out with an offset spatula.
- Using a 1M piping tip, pipe a dam of frosting around the edges of the cake layer. Fill the middle with the apple filling (make sure the filling isn't warm otherwise it will melt the frosting).
- Place your next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more buttercream. I like to use a cake scraper to smooth out the sides.
- Using the same 1M piping tip, pipe some swirls on the top of the cake and you can use the extra frosting to do additional piping too
