Apple Spice Cake With Brown Sugar Glaze

From the kitchen of Carly

Warm spiced cake loaded with fresh grated apples and finished with a glossy brown sugar glaze. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice build layers of autumn flavor that keep you coming back for another slice.

Apple Spice Cake With Brown Sugar Glaze

Granny Smith apples squeezed dry become a tender, moist crumb studded with subtle spice, while brown sugar and lemon keep things bright. The glaze soaks into a warm cake and sets into a glossy shell. This is comfort food that doesn't taste heavy, the kind you eat a slice of at 3pm without apology.

Prep
n/a
Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 1Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 3 cupall purpose flour
  • 1 tspbaking soda
  • 1 tspground cinnamon
  • 3/4 tspsalt
  • 1/2 tspground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tspground cloves
  • 1/4 tspground allspice
  • 1 3/4 lbGranny Smith apples, peeled, cored, coarsely grated
  • 1 1/2 cupunsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cupsugar
  • 1/2 cupgolden brown sugar
  • 1 tspgrated lemon peel
  • 3 largeeggs
  • 1 tspvanilla extract
  • 1 tspfresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cupgolden brown sugar
  • 1/4 cupunsalted butter
  • 1/4 cupwhipping cream
  • 1/2 tspvanilla extract
  • 1/2 tspfresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tspsalt

Instructions

  1. Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 325°F. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Sift the flour along with the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice into a medium bowl. Tip the grated apples into a strainer, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands or a kitchen towel. Measure out 2 cups of the pressed apple.

  2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, both sugars, and lemon peel until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in the vanilla and lemon juice, then beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the grated apples. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes.

  3. Combine all glaze ingredients in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches a boil. Drop the heat to medium and whisk until the glaze is smooth, about 1 minute, then pull it off the heat. Invert the warm cake onto a rack set over a baking sheet. Poke holes all over the top with a small skewer, then pour the glaze over slowly, letting each addition soak in before adding more. Give the cake 30 minutes to cool before serving warm or at room temperature.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Squeeze the grated apples hard, really hard. The excess moisture will make your cake dense instead of fluffy. Don't skip this step.
  • Pierce the warm cake all over with a skewer before pouring the glaze so it actually soaks in and doesn't just sit on top.
  • Brown sugar in the glaze can seize up if you're not careful. Keep the heat at medium once it reaches a boil, whisk constantly, and you're done in 60 seconds.

Variations

  • Swap half the Granny Smiths for a sweeter apple like Honeycrisp if you want less tartness.
  • Skip the spices and fold in toasted walnuts or pecans instead for a more restrained, nutty cake.
  • Use the same batter in a greased 9-inch round pan and split it into layers, then dust with cinnamon sugar instead of glazing.

Make ahead and storage

Wrapped well at room temperature, this cake stays moist for 3 days. It's not a candidate for the freezer because the glaze and crumb texture don't recover well from freezing. Warm slices gently if you're reheating.