If you’re anything like me, you probably go apple picking every year and end up with a bushel of apples and only a handful of apple recipes. I mean, there’s only so many apple pies you can make in one season. So, try your hand at this delicious and QUICK old fashioned apple butter spice cake. From start to finish, this recipe will take you under 1 and 1/2 hours to make, and it’s so easy.
Why apple butter?
Apple butter is a great way to use up a lot of apples. You simply let the apples simmer in a crockpot with sugar and spices and then blend it with an immersion blender. Then when you add the apple butter to this old fashioned spice cake, it gets incredibly moist and soft. The cake gets dark in color, almost like gingerbread and it looks like the perfect autumn cake.
What frosting pairs with a spice cake?
For this cake I chose a maple cream cheese frosting. It is the perfect way to top an autumn spice cake. The maple compliments the apple and the cream cheese allows it to have less sugar, making the cake less sweet, therefore enhancing the spices. I make a VERY healthy frosting that is entirely sugar free and only uses 3 ingredients; cream cheese, greek yogurt and maple syrup. This is the frosting shown in the picture above. Its delicious, but not too sweet at all. If you are looking for a sweeter cream cheese frosting, feel free to add some powdered sugar.
How to use healthy ingredients
I always try to make my recipes extra healthy, especially dessert. I believe that in the last 100 years we have completely destroyed our taste buds. Processed snacks and fast foods have led us to believe that foods like cake need 2-3 cups of sugar and to be topped with even more sugar in the frosting. This is ruining our health. Humans never used to bake like this, we used far fewer ingredients, more spices and way less sugar. Once you cut down on processed foods and sugar, your natural taste buds return and you’ll find old fashioned recipes like this one, all the more delicious.
For this cake I used coconut sugar in place of cane sugar. I love coconut sugar. It has a lower glycemic index, is less processed and has more nutrients than cane sugar. This brand of coconut sugar is one of my favorites. Click here to purchase. Give it a try! Trust me, you’ll love it.
Old Fashioned Apple Butter Spice Cake
This old fashioned apple butter spice cake is the perfect autumn dessert. Topped with a maple cream cheese frosting that is low in sugar and high in taste. Plus, you’ll have this cake ready in only 1 hour!
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
30-35 minutes
Yield
One 8″ Round Cake
Meal
Dessert
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 3/4 cup apple butter
- 1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour (einkorn flour will also work in this amount)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar*
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
*Ever tried coconut sugar? Click here to purchase from my favorite brand.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Oil and flour an 8 or 9″ round cake pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the apple butter, coconut sugar, melted butter and eggs. Then add in the flour, sea salt, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
- Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake at 375 F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely before adding the frosting.
- For the frosting, simply beat using hand beaters (or use the whisk attachment on your Kitchenaid mixer) to combine until very smooth.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cake. Top with fresh apple slices. Enjoy!
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