Spiced Apple Cake With Brown Butter Buttercream

I’m starting to think I have a tendency to overdo things just a wee bit. I really just wanted to make an easy, one-layer apple cake. I was picturing a light dusting of powdered sugar over the top. A snack cake. We could eat it for breakfast…lunch…dinner…snacks in between. Nobody would judge us because the name implies (insists?) we eat it between meals and often. That’s how we do with delicious snacks.

But then I couldn’t stop thinking about how glorious a super thick layer of brown butter buttercream would be. I mean, I know you agree with me. And then my simple spiced apple cake suddenly had jazz hands. Mega jazz hands. And nobody, and I mean, NOBODY, was sad about it.

The crumb on this bad boy will have you coming back for more, no doubt. It’s moist. Yep, we refer to cakes as moist around here. And it’s loaded with a whopping two cups of apples with just the right amount of spices, nothing excessive.

So you’re wondering what sent me on the spiced apple cake train? Fall? Yes. Apples on my trees? Yes, indeed. But more importantly and to an extremely superficial point, I had just purchased the most exquisite straight edged, square 9X9 pan. It’s by Nordicware (this isn’t an ad…just sharing) and it distributes temperature like a dream. So basically I wanted to see a square, straight-edged spiced apple cake. And that’s what consumes my days folks, in a nutshell.

Before We Get Started

• Apples. My two favorite baking apples are Gala and Granny Smith. There are a host of other good baking apples. You want something crisp and flavorful that won’t become mealy and too soft while baking. I also didn’t peel my apples for this and I swear you can’t even tell. The apples are cut in a small dice. But you do you.
• Nutmeg. Fresh grated nutmeg will change your life. Ditch the pre-ground stuff and start grating it as you bake. The smell is sublime.
• Simplify. This is the ultimate snack cake. The brown butter buttercream makes it especially decadent. But if you’d like to take it down a notch, make it a wee more casual or just can’t bear the thought of whipping up some buttercream before you take a bite, then just sift some powdered sugar over the top and call it a day.

Let’s make some jazzy spiced apple cake, shall we?

Spiced Apple Cake With Brown Butter Buttercream

Makes One 9X9 Cake

INGREDIENTS

For the Apples

• 2 cups apples, unpeeled and small dice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

For the Cake

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/2 cup veggie oil (I prefer sunflower seed oil)
• 3 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk

For the Brown Butter Buttercream

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 4 tablespoon milk or more to thin

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease, flour and line a 9 X 9 baking pan with parchment paper letting the excess fall over the sides of the pan.
2. In a medium bowl add the diced apples, brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir to coat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Continue whisking and add in your sour cream, oil and vanilla extract.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, sea salt and nutmeg.
5. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately to the sugar-egg mixture, ending with the milk. Fold the apple mixture into the batter in as few strokes as possible. Pour of the batter into the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter several times to release any trapped air bubbles.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes in the center of the oven or until a toothpick pressed into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 50 minutes in the pan then remove (using the excess parchment paper to pull it out of the pan) onto a rack to finish cooling.
7. While the spiced apple cake cools, prepare your buttercream. Place the butter in a medium saucepan and melt over medium low heat. Once melted, crank up the heat to medium high. Stand by, stirring and watching. Small golden bits will start to settle on the bottom of the pan and it will start to smell delicious and nutty. Once this happens, take it off the heat and pour into a medium, heat-safe bowl to cool a bit.
8. In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the cooled brown butter and powdered sugar and mix on low until fully blended. Add in the cinnamon, nutmeg and the milk until thinned to the desired consistency. Mix until smooth. Spread over the top of the spiced apple cake…I like to leave a ½-inch gutter around the edge of the cake so that you can see it when looking over the top. But you do you! Enjoy!! xo

 On My Mind

• Bake From Scratch did a Q&A with me about mooncakes, posted my original recipe AND they’re doing a mooncake mold giveaway. I hope you’ll check it all out!!!
• Charleston. You guys, it’s so soon! I’m so excited to get on an airplane and have some delicious food and enjoy good conversation with people I’ve only admired from afar. So I’ve mentioned before that my dad’s family is from South Carolina. Specifically it’s Clover, South Carolina. I’ve emailed the town’s unofficial historian to see if they can find my great grandfather (a cotton farmer), Aunt Martha and Uncle Boyce’s (a bootlegger…naturally) homes. Wish me luck. And if by chance any Clover, South Carolina folks follow me, drop me a line!
• Last year’s apple cake. This is last year’s apple cake. Will I make one in 2018? I’m already thinking about it…
• Sinner. Have you guys watched this series? It just concluded last week. Very creepy, weird, binge-watchable.
• Sending lots of love + light!

Rebecca xoxo