Apple Cake with Apple Cider Buttercream
Am I the only one who finds it relaxing to curl up on the sofa during these frigid days of winter and page through back issues of cooking and baking magazines? I’m guessing I’m not alone here.
Following an autumn and early winter filled with travel and holidays, I finally have time to relax and bake, just for the fun of it. The other day I was craving cake. So, grabbing a stack of magazines from the coffee table, I began to flip through them for inspiration. It wasn’t the first time I had looked at these magazines. Many of the pages had dog-ear’d corners, a kind of ‘note to self’ to re-visit that recipe at some other time. One such recipe was a beautifully photographed apple cake from an article in ‘Bake From Scratch‘ titled Baking the Harvest.
Thank goodness for apples! During the winter months, when the produce section at the market is absent juicy stone fruits and freshly picked locally grown berries, there are apples! Reliable apples! Apples are often thought of as a fall fruit, but we all know that any given day of the year, we can grab a variety of apples from the market. They are always there for us, willing and ready to be eaten out of hand or baked into a delicious cake, pie, or dessert.
Since I usually have apples on hand, I immediately got busy baking the cake from the magazine article. The cake frosting from the recipe was a whipped cream type frosting, but I opted for a buttercream, mostly because I wanted to photograph the cake and knew that a buttercream would be a more stable choice. I loved the combination of the apple cider buttercream with this cake because neither are overly sweet, which allows the spice to take center stage in both. I love this cake! I can’t wait to make it again to serve to company. After all, who doesn’t like apples, especially when presented as the star in a tender moist slice of cake.
Note: I used three 6-inch cake pans to produce a towering cake, however, two 8-inch cake pans can be used as well.
Note: If a Swiss buttercream isn’t your thing, feel free to use a good ole American frosting. A cream cheese frosting would be equally delicious on this cake.
Apple Cake with Apple Cider Buttercream
3/4 cup (170grams) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (330 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs (150 grams)
1 tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (219 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon (6 grams) ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoon (6.25 grams) baking soda
1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream
3/4 cup (150 grams) shredded tart apple
Apple Cider Buttercream (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease three 6-inch round cake pans with butter, then dust with flour and line with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, ginger and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just until combined. Beat in the sour cream. Add the remaining flour mixture, beating just until combined. Gently stir in the apple. Divide batter among prepared pans.
Bake until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.
If necessary, level each cake layer before frosting. Spread Apple Cider Buttercream between layers. Using an offset spatula, spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake.
Apple Cider Buttercream
1 cup spiced apple cider
3 large egg whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature
In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the cider is reduced to approximately 1/3 cup. Cool cider to room temperature.
Combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer. (Make sure the bowl is very clean and free from any residual fat.) Bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer. Place the bowl of egg whites over the simmering water, making sure the bottom of the pan does not come in contact with the water.
Whisk the egg until the sugar has melted, then stir frequently until the egg whites have reached a temperature between 145˚ and 150˚ on an instant read thermometer.
Remove the bowl from the pan and place on a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Continue to beat until the whites are completely cool. Test this by feeling the bottom of the bowl. It should feel completely cool to the touch.
Turn the mixer down to medium-low and begin adding the butter, a piece at a time. Once all the butter has been added, scrape down the side of the bowl and whisk for a few more seconds. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle in the reduced apple cider, and whisk until combined.
Note: I found this spiced apple cider at Trader Joe’s. If it’s not available in your area, use plain apple cider and add a cinnamon stick along with a few whole cloves to the cider while reducing.
Inspired by a recipe in Bake From Scratch contributed by Kelsey Siemens
When I was a young girl, the end of summer arrived with a mixed bag of emotions. My birthday often fell over the three day Labor Day weekend so along with the excitement of cake and presents came the melancholy feelings as summer days were fading and a new school year was about to begin. The carefree days of summer and the evenings when we played outside long past the twinkling of the firefly’s glow would be suspended for nine long months. Funny how all these years later that same somber feeling creeps in with the arrival of the first Monday in September.
Once I emotionally shift from summer to autumn, I passionately embrace the new season. It is my favorite by far. There’s apple picking, and pumpkins, and Halloween, and the changing trees as their foliage drifts from green to the warmer colors of fall. Baking takes on a new energy once the days grow shorter and cooler and I find myself more often in my kitchen.
You might ask what a Root Beer Bundt Cake has to do with this post. Well, mostly nothing except I was determined to make it before summer came to an end. Goal reached! And, although the Michaels, Joanns and HomeGoods of the world have been brimming over with fall decorations for weeks now, I refuse to exit summer prematurely and post apple and pumpkin recipes here on my blog. With this cake I ceremoniously take the leap from one season to the next.
This root beer cake created by Carla Hall and published in King Arthur’s ‘Sift’ magazine, is a twist on her grandmother’s Coca Cola Cake. Carla creatively subbed in root beer for the cola. Ginger, cinnamon and star anise lend a warm essence to the cake and make it the perfect recipe to make the transition from summer to fall. Enjoy this cake year round with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for a Root Beer Float re-imagined!!!
This summer has been ‘jam’ packed with travel, fun, good food and family. So much so that I actually baked these cookies weeks ago but only now have the time to share them with all of you. Let me back up to the beginning of July and fill you in on some of my summer fun. It all began with a trip to 
If only I could describe the amazing fragrance of tayberries. Following a light sprinkling of sugar and a night’s rest on rimmed baking sheets, their juice filled the pans and the berries released a scent best compared to a full-bodied red wine. Destined for jam, only six pounds actually made it to the pot because I single handedly ate what must have been a pound of berries all by myself. The remainder made for a deeply flavored sweet/tart jam that we will savor over the coming year.
While still in Seattle, I was invited to a barbecue at the home of one of J’s friends. I had just finished reading Ottolenghi’s ‘
After our adventure to Orcas Island and another week in Seattle, I returned home in time to enjoy a visit from my god-daughter and her precious seven month old baby girl. I seriously considered baby-napping that little bundle but thought better of it in the end. Just days later I hosted two of my nieces from Kentucky for a week filled with fun. So yes, July kept me busy, in many special and delicious ways.
I have a favorite carrot cake recipe that I’ve made dozens of times. It’s simple and straight forward. No pineapple and no nuts. I’m not against either in a carrot cake but more often than not, I make my carrot cake for a dear friend who happens to prefer her cake sans pineapple. And, although I am a huge fan of nuts in carrot cake, she is allergic to nuts so I leave them out. It’s still a great little cake, with lots of spice and slathered with a thick coating of good ole cream cheese frosting. (At the last minute I decided to add a bit of color by sprinkling some chopped pistachios on top of the cake.)
Years ago, I clipped a recipe for a chocolate zucchini cake from a newspaper. By the time I got around to making it, I had misplaced the clipping. I assumed it would turn up eventually, but it never did. So, I finally just decided to come up with my own recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake by simply tweaking my carrot cake recipe. For the chocolate component, I added deep, dark cocoa powder. I subbed in grated zucchini for the carrot, and added cardamom along with the other spices.
I guess it’s possible that one day that old clipped zucchini cake recipe will turn up. but even if it does, I can’t imagine liking it any better than this one here. It’s moist, and chocolatey, and studded with little green specks of grated zucchini. As the saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you, and I didn’t by accident type ‘lime’ instead of ‘lemon’.
There is a wealth of information to be digested on the subject of citrus (check it out 
I love learning about new produce, and a curious walk through the market, or better yet, a farmers market, provides lots of opportunities to discover new items. When you are up for a fun adventure, head to the market, buy one produce item you’ve never seen, or cooked/baked with, and bring it home. It’s the perfect opportunity for discovery. You just never know what new love you might stumble upon.
