Apple Gingerbread Cake With Cream

From the kitchen of Carly

Spiced gingerbread cake crowned with caramelized apples that turn jammy and translucent as they cook. Dark molasses and warming spices create deep flavor, while buttery cream cuts through the richness. Elegant enough for company, comforting enough for yourself.

Apple Gingerbread Cake With Cream

Apple gingerbread cakes usually go one way: dense and dark. This one flips the script with a caramel-soaked apple bottom, a tender crumb studded with actual ginger, and heavy cream stirred into the batter itself. The apples soften in butter first, getting jammy at the edges, while the molasses and maple create a cake that's warm without being heavy. It's the kind of thing you'd order at a restaurant and wish you understood.

Prep
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Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 3 tbspplus 1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for pan
  • 1 cuplight brown sugar, divided
  • 1 lblady apples, unpeeled, very thinly sliced, seeds removed, divided
  • 2 cupall-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tspbaking powder
  • 1 1/2 tspkosher salt
  • 1 1/2 tspground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tspground cloves
  • 1/2 tspground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cuprobust-flavored molasses
  • 1/2 cuppure maple syrup
  • 2 largeeggs, room temperature
  • 2 tbspfinely grated peeled ginger
  • 1 1/2 tspbaking soda
  • 1/2 cupheavy cream, plus more for serving
  • 1A 10-inch springform pan

Instructions

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 350°F. Butter the springform pan, line the bottom with a parchment round, and butter the parchment too. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water, stirring constantly until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring and swirl the skillet often as the mixture cooks; you're looking for large, slow-popping bubbles, which takes about 2 minutes. Pour the caramel straight into the prepared pan and tilt it so the caramel coats the bottom evenly.

  2. Back in the same skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add half the apple slices, and toss to separate them. Cook, tossing often, until the slices are soft and nearly translucent, about 4 minutes. Slide them out and repeat with another tablespoon of butter and the remaining apples. Once they're cool enough to handle, layer all the apples over the caramel in several overlapping rows. Set the pan aside.

  3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a large bowl, then set it aside. In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, combine the molasses, maple syrup, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and remaining 1/2 cup butter, stirring constantly until the butter melts and everything is smooth. Whisk in the eggs and grated ginger. In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into 1/4 cup very hot water until dissolved, then whisk that into the molasses mixture. Pour the molasses mixture into the reserved dry ingredients and whisk until a batter forms. Scrape it over the apples, spreading it into an even layer, then drizzle the 1/2 cup of cream evenly over the top.

  4. Set the pan on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until the center feels firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edge to loosen the sides, then unclasp and lift away the ring. Invert the cake onto the rack, carefully remove the pan base, and peel back the parchment slowly since the apples may want to stick. Let the cake cool completely before cutting.

  5. Slice into wedges and finish each piece with a drizzle of additional cream.

  6. Baked a day ahead, this cake holds well tightly covered at room temperature. To revive the apples before serving, warm the cake briefly in a microwave and brush the top with maple syrup.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Slice the lady apples paper-thin on a mandoline if you have one, then cook them in two batches so they actually soften instead of steaming themselves into mush.
  • Don't skip the butter-sugar caramel step at the bottom of the pan. It takes maybe 3 minutes and builds a sticky, caramelized base that keeps the apples from sliding around during baking.
  • The baking soda dissolves in hot water before going into the molasses mixture, which blooms the chocolate and spice flavors and helps the cake rise properly. Don't just add it dry.
  • Room-temperature eggs emulsify better with the molasses and cream, so pull them out 20 minutes before you start.

Variations

  • Skip the cream stirred into the batter and serve thick slices warm with a generous pour of cream on the side, letting it pool into the apple layer.
  • Replace lady apples with bartlett pears, which are softer and will cook down to a silkier base in the same time.
  • Add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and reduce the nutmeg to 1/4 teaspoon for a more austere, less sweet spice profile.
  • Make it a trifle by breaking up cooled leftover cake, layering it in bowls with whipped cream and more cooked apples, then finishing with crushed gingersnaps.

Make ahead and storage

Wrap leftovers loosely in foil or keep under a cake dome at room temperature for up to 2 days, or cover well and refrigerate for up to 4 days (it actually gets more tender). Not recommended for freezing, since the caramel base becomes gritty.