Fall is upon us and apples are everywhere. Apple Spice Cake is the perfect recipe to celebrate the season.
The cake layers have fresh bits of apples baked inside. And it’s seasoned with ground cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg.
Apple Spice Cake Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: is a great choice for cakes that require extra structure like this one!
- Baking powder: is a mixture of baking soda and cornstarch. Baking soda works when it comes into contact with liquid, and again when it comes into contact with heat.
- Ground cinnamon: most ‘cinnamon’ that you’ll find in grocery stores is actually Cassia. Cassia has a stronger flavor than real cinnamon and is ideal for most baked goods.
- Ground ginger: is the most commonly used form of ginger in bake goods. Ground ginger should always be aromatic and fresh and no more than about 2 months old for the best flavor.
- Baking soda: is an alkali and should be used with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, sour cream, molasses or brown sugar. The leavening action happens right after mixing, so you should bake right away.
- Salt: helps with flavor.
- Freshly grated nutmeg: has a warm and woody flavor that makes it great for fall cake recipes. Nutmeg should always be purchased as a whole and not ground. To ground at home, use a grater and grate the nutmeg yourself. This ensures the best flavor.
- Vegetable oil: helps the cake stay moist, provides tenderness and lubrication.
- Granulated sugar: is the most common form of sweetener used in baking and easily incorporates well with other ingredients.
- Brown sugar: has molasses added which gives baked goods a subtle caramel flavor with a soft and chewy texture.
- Eggs: binds, leavens and emulsifies.
- Unsweetened applesauce: adds a delicate flavor and moisture to cakes and other baked goods.
- Diced apples: I used Granny Smith apples for this cake but you can also use Honeycrisp or Pink Lady.
Apple Filling
This apple pie filling is made with crisp Granny Smith apples. It’s flavored with a bit of apple pie spice as well to help bring out the flavors in the apples. And I love that you can make this filling up to 1 week in advance, which is always helpful during the baking season.
Apple Spice Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Swiss meringue buttercream is my favorite type of buttercream to use for my cakes. It’s lightly sweetened, silky-smooth and just plain delicious. Plus, it’s easy to adapt to any flavor you like.
For this version of Swiss meringue buttercream, I replaced the typical granulated sugar for brown sugar and added a bit of apple pie spice.
Apple Spice Cake Assembly
- Fit a piping bag with a round piping tip or a coupler and fill bag with about 1 cup buttercream.
- Pipe a ring around the edge of the cake to create a buttercream dam. (This will help keep the filling in and not oozing out of the sides of the cake.
- Fill the cake with about 3/4 cup apple filling and spread out with a small offset cake spatula evenly until it reaches the buttercream dam.
- Place the next cake layer on top, gently pressing to adhere and repeat this process with the next layer of cake.
What Are The Benefits Of Crumb Coating?
- Crumb coating holds in all the crumbs and prevents them from getting into the final layer of buttercream.
- Crumb coating also helps keep the cake fresh and moist.
- It also gives the cake a good base to start the decorating process.
Icing The Cake
- Apply a generous amount of buttercream on top of the chilled cake and spread out the buttercream just over the top of the cake. You should have excess buttercream hanging off the edges.
- Line an 8-inch acrylic cake disc with parchment paper and place disc parchment side down on to the cake, making sure it’s level and the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc line up.
- Apply buttercream over the sides of the cake. Gently press a cake scraper against the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to remove the excess buttercream and to smooth the sides of the cake.
- Apply more frosting to any gaps and use the cake scraper and rotate the turntable again until the sides are smooth. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before removing the acrylic disc.
- Carefully insert your offset cake spatula under the acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to loosen. Remove the disc and the parchment paper. Smooth out the top of the cake with a cake spatula.
Apple Spice Cake Baking Schedule
- Day 1: Prepare apple filling.
- Day 2: Bake cake layers.
- Day 3: Prepare buttercream, assemble, decorate and serve.
Cake Decorating Tools
- Nonslip mat
- Cake turntable
- 8-inch round cake board
- Piping bags
- Round piping tip or coupler
- Small offset cake spatula
- 8-inch round acrylic disc
- Parchment paper
- Cake scraper
- Ateco piping tip #828
Make Ahead
During baking season it’s always a good idea to plan, and make anything that you can ahead of time. I follow this idea all throughout the year and I find that it’s much less stressful this way, which helps create a better product in the end.
- Apple filling can be made up to 1 week in advance.
- Cake layers can be made up to 3 days in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Make the buttercream the day of assembly.
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Suggested Recipes
Apple Spice Cake
Yield:
12
Prep Time:
2 hours
Cook Time:
25 minutes
Additional Time:
30 minutes
Total Time:
2 hours 55 minutes
Three tall layers of apple spice cake baked with diced apples inside, filled with apple filling and frosted with apple spice Swiss meringue buttercream.
Ingredients
SPECIAL TOOLS
- 3 8-inch round cake pans
- Nonstick baking spray
- Stand mixer
- Nonslip mat
- Cake turntable
- 8-inch round cake board
- Piping bags
- Round piping tip or coupler
- Small offset cake spatula
- 8-inch round acrylic disc
- Parchment paper
- Cake scraper
APPLE SPICE CAKE
- 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 cups (240 grams) apples, such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or Pink lady, peeled and diced
APPLE PIE FILLING
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 medium-sized Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 1/2 cups water
APPLE SPICE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons egg whites
- 1 1/4 cup (8.75 ounces) light brown sugar
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoons apple pie spice
Instructions
APPLE SPICE CAKE
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the oil and sugars on medium speed for 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down the mixer bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the applesauce in two batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Add the apples and mix on low speed for 30 seconds or until combined.
- Divide the batter between cake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, rotating cake pans halfway through baking.
- Let cakes cool in their pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Then, invert cakes onto the wire cake racks to cool completely.
APPLE PIE FILLING
- In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar and cornstarch.
- Add the apples, butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, apple pie spice and water and cook over medium heat.
- Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from burning. Reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer until thickened and softened, stirring frequently.
- Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes to cool. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
APPLE SPICE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the egg whites and sugar and whisk by hand until combined. Fill a medium saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Place mixer bowl on top, being sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water and attach a candy thermometer.
- Whisking occasionally, heat the egg mixture until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Once the mixture reaches 160 degrees, transfer to a stand mixer and beat the mixture on high speed for 10 minutes or until medium-stiff peaks form. At this point the outside of the mixer bowl should be room temperature. Switch out the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and with the mixer on low speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, and then add the vanilla extract and apple pie spice. Once combined, turn up the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is smooth about 5 minutes.
ASSEMBLE
- Place a nonslip mat on top of a cake turntable and place a cake board on top. Center the first cake layer on top of the cake board, making sure there's even spacing from all around the edges.
- Fit a piping bag with a round piping tip or coupler and fill the piping bag with about 11/2 cup buttercream. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge of the cake. Fill the center with half of the filling and spread out in an even layer with a small offset cake spatula. Place the second cake layer on top and gently press to adhere to the bottom cake layer. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge and spread the remaining filling out in an even layer until it reaches the buttercream dam. Add the third and final cake layer (bottom side up) on top and gently press to adhere.
CRUMB COAT
- Apply a thin layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, creating a crumb coat. Chill the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
CAKE DECORATING
- Apply a generous amount of buttercream on top of the chilled cake and spread out the buttercream just over the top of the cake. You should have excess buttercream hanging off the edges. Line an 8-inch acrylic cake disc with parchment paper and place disc parchment side down on to the cake, making sure it’s level and the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc line up.
- Apply buttercream over the sides of the cake. Gently press a cake scraper against the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to remove the excess buttercream and to smooth the sides of the cake. Apply more frosting to any gaps and use the cake scraper and rotate the turntable again until the sides are smooth. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before removing the acrylic disc.
- Carefully insert your offset cake spatula under the acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to loosen. Remove the disc and the parchment paper. Smooth out the top of the cake with a cake spatula.
- Apply a small apple on top and a few cinnamon sticks and serve.
Notes
Apple filling can be made up to 1 week in advance.
Cake layers can be made up to 3 days in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Make the buttercream the day of assembly.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 406Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 426mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 3gSugar: 26gProtein: 7g
*Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary.*