30 March, 2022
Apple-Filled Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Last year, I made seven-layer bars for my birthday and delivered them to people. The year before that, I made the world’s saddest attempt at a lemon cake, which was honestly pretty fitting for a birthday at the very beginning of lockdown when there was basically nothing available in the grocery stores, and going shopping was an anxiety-inducing endeavor. But this year! This year, I’m jumping back on the birthday track for myself and making an actual cake for actual people. I was inspired by my husband’s love for his black forest cake, which is becoming a birthday staple for him, and the carrot cake I made last year for our friend, Skyler.
This cake was a huge hit with everyone I shared it with, and it’s one I have a feeling I’ll be making again for future birthdays (or fall events). The recipe below makes enough batter for three 9″ cakes, and the frosting recipe will make enough to decorate the cake as described with a little extra for decorative additions (like a lattice on top, scalloping around the bottom, etc.
On a slightly funnier note, the original iteration of this recipe that I used to make my cake made entirely too much apple filling. I made my big cake and a two-tier 4″ mini cake, and I still had like four or five cups of it leftover. As a result, I halved the recipe, so you should have plenty of apple filling for your needs, plus some yummy extra. I probably could have cut it by two-thirds, but I was honestly too lazy to be bothered to do the extra math. (Yes, I realize there are recipe converters out there, but you’ll probably thank me for the extra yield of the halved recipe — that filling is good).
Ingredients
For the Cake
4 1/3 cups Flour
2 1/4 tsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Cardamom
1 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
3/4 tsp Nutmeg
3/4 tsp Black pepper
1/3 tsp Cloves
2 3/4 cups Brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cup Canola oil
1 1/2 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
6 Eggs, room temperature
3 tsp Vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
For the Filling
5 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks)
1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
2 1/2 tbsp Spiced rum
2 1/2 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Brown sugar
1 tbsp Molasses
1/4 cup White sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Cornstarch
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
For the Frosting
3/4 cup Salted butter, browned and cooled to soft
12 oz Cream cheese, softened (brick-style)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
6 cups Powdered sugar
~2 cups Walnuts, chopped (for decorating)
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For the Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray/line three 9-inch round cake pans and set them aside
In a large bowl, sift and whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and cloves. Set this bowl aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together brown sugar, oil, and applesauce. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. DO NOT add the buttermilk yet.
Gradually add in about half of the dry ingredients. Mix in the buttermilk, and then add the remaining half of the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
Divide the mixture evenly among the three pans and bake for 28 to 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the pans cool for about five minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan and releasing the cakes by inverting them over a wire rack. Let the cakes rest until they are completely cooled before decorating.
For the Filling
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the apple pieces, lemon juice, and rum. Cook for about 6 minutes. Add the butter, molasses, and brown sugar.
While the apples are cooking, whisk together the white sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once the butter has melted, add in the sugar mixture and stir until the sauce thickens (about 2 minutes).
Remove the pan from the heat and let everything cool. It should set up and thicken after about 5 minutes. Once it has cooled to room temperature, it can be used in the cake.
For the Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream together all the wet ingredients, followed by the sugar, one cup at a time. Mix until smooth and set aside until the cakes are completely cooled.
Assembly
Place the bottom tier of the cake upside down on a decorating stand. Make a frosting ring around the top of the cake to act as a dam and prevent the apple filling from pouring out the sides. Add about two cups of filling inside the dam (enough to evenly fill the top of the layer without overfilling).
Gently stack the second cake on top of the first one, also upside down, and repeat the frosting dam and filling process.
Place the third cake on top of the second one, also upside down. Make a thin but opaque layer of frosting on the top of the cake. Create a thin, translucent layer of frosting down the sides by piping an open zigzag of frosting around and then spreading it evenly. Some of the cake should show through, creating a “naked” effect, but there should still be enough frosting to stick the chopped walnuts to the bottom.
Even out the frosting layer on top, squaring off the edges, and decorate with the walnuts. If you have a lot of leftover frosting, consider piping some scalloping around the top edge and bottom of the cake after you’ve decorated with the walnuts. To stick the nuts to the bottom of the cake, gently pat them into place up the side of the cake.
Store the cake in the fridge until it’s time to eat!
