Apple Spice Cake
This Apple Spice Cake is an easy apple cinnamon cake recipe made with apple cider and warm spices that give you all of the flavors of fall.
There is nothing like a little slice of apple spice cake and a mug of hot cider (or maybe an apple cider Moscow mule) to get me in the mood for cool fall nights. This easy apple cider cake combines both! It is made with applesauce, apple cider, ground cinnamon and cloves to give it that delicious spiced apple flavor I love so much.
If you’re with me on team apple (thought this pumpkin bundt cake is pretty good!) you’ve got to try our cinnamon sugar baked apples, caramel apple bread, caramel apple cupcakes, and caramel apple dip….ok you caught me caramel and apple is kind of my thing!
This tasty little cake skips the caramel and goes for those fragrant spices. It doesn’t even need a frosting! It’s the perfect cake for a simple weeknight dessert or a fun Halloween party.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour – The base of the cake is all-purpose flour.
- Baking soda – This gives the cake a bit of a rise and keeps it light and fluffy.
- Spices – Ground cinnamon and ground cloves give this cake it’s warm, fragrant flavors and smells.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar is all you need for this
- Salt – A little pinch of salt balances out the sugar and spices.
- Applesauce – This gives you a nice moist cake. You can use a spiced applesauce if you want to add a little extra cinnamon flavor.
- Unsalted butter – Since you’ve already added salt make sure your butter is unsalted. You’ll be melting it so that it fully combines with the cake batter.
- Apple cider – Just a little apple cider gives this delicious cake even more apply flavor.
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
Instructions
Step 1 – Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
Step 2 – Combine dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Step 3 – Combine spices. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves until well combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture in a small dish for sprinkling the
top at the end.
Step 4 – Add wet ingredients. In the same large bowl, add the applesauce, melted butter, apple cider, egg and vanilla
extract to the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Stir to combine.
Step 5 – Add dry ingredients. Slowly add the flour mixture to the applesauce mixture and whisk to combine.
Step 6 – Place batter in pan. Carefully pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a rubber
spatula. Sprinkle the reserved cinnamon-sugar mix over the top of the batter.
Step 7 – Bake. Place the pan into the preheated 325 degrees F oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick
inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Step 8 – Cool and serve. Remove from the oven and let the pan rest for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then
remove from the pan and place the cake directly on the rack to finish cooling. Serve alone or with a little whipped cream or your favorite vanilla frosting!
Can I Use Apple Juice Instead of Apple Cider?
For this recipe I really recommend you stick with apple cider. It has a much more concentrated flavor and it includes a lot of spices that you don’t find in apple juice. You won’t get the same flavor our of just apple juice.
Can I Make a Larger Cake?
Yes! You can double this recipe and bake it in a 9×13 inch pan for a larger cake to share with your friends and family. Add 5 minutes to the cook time but start checking for doneness at the 30 minute mark. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How to Store It
To store this cake you’ll want to cover it tightly with plastic wrap or use this awesome 8×8 cake pan with a lid from Wilton. The cake can be stored at room temperature for 3-5 days but I highly doubt it will last that long!
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Apple Spice Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ⅔ cup Sugar
- ¾ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground cloves
- 1 cup Applesauce
- 8 tablespoons Unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup Apple cider
- 1 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large separate bowl, mix together sugar, ground cinnamon and ground cloves until well combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture in a small dish for sprinkling the top at the end.
- In the same large bowl, add the applesauce, melted butter, apple cider, egg and vanilla extract to the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Stir to combine.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the applesauce mixture and whisk to combine.
- Carefully pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the reserved cinnamon-sugar mix over the top of the batter.
- Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let the pan rest for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then remove from the pan and place the cake directly on the rack to finish cooling. Serve alone or with your favorite vanilla frosting! Enjoy!
Nutrition
This sounds delicious! I wouldn’t have thought to cook the apples in apple juice. Pinned, yummed, and stumbled!
YUM!!!! I love making homemade applesauce because it always makes the BEST apple spice cake but I never thought to put cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top. That sounds IN. CRED. IBLE.
Love apple anything! Thanks for sharing!
This looks so good! Who would have thought that it was Juicy Juice! Love that 🙂 Thanks for sharing (via Tutorials & Tips Link Party)
Oh this looks DELICIOUS and totally screams fall! I need something like this stat!
That looks amazing! I can’t wait for fall weather! I’d love to curl up on the patio with this and hot coffee and a blanket! Sadly I think Texas will make me wait a few months, haha. Found you via Teach Me Tuesday!
Yummmm! This cake sounds so delicious, and easy! A win-win 🙂
Thanks for linking up with Creative Spark. I’m featuring this at tomorrow’s party. Hope you’ll stop by to link up with us again 🙂 The party begins at 6am EST!
It was a hit :). Thanks for featuring us we will be there!
This has my mouth watering! Seriously YUM! Thanks for sharing on the Monday Funday Party! Pinning to our group board.
Oh wow this sounds lovely. will have to give this a go. Thanks for sharing.
Simon