Apple Layer Cake with Vanilla Chai-Spiced Buttercream

Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful homemade apple cake, frosted with the silkiest whipped vanilla chai-spiced buttercream!

A couple of months ago, I posted a recipe for Fresh Pear Cake with Whipped Brown Sugar Buttercream. I could not get over how moist, flavorful, and perfectly spiced it was. Not to brag or anything…

Since the cake turned out so great (I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it), I thought I’d make it again, but this time around I would use apples instead of pears.

As Charlie Sheen would say, “Winning!!!” (God I hate that catch phrase…)

At first, I thought of just substituting applesauce, but I had an abundance of fresh Fuji apples from my uncle’s orchard, so I decided to go the fresher route. This would also give me more control over the sweetness of the cake.

Being that apples and pears are pretty interchangeable, I didn’t have to adjust much else as far as the cake goes. However, I did cook the apples with the sugars since apples tend to be much firmer and don’t break down as easily as pears.

One of the wonderful things about baking cakes with fruit is that they can replace some of the fat since they provide a lot of moisture. And would you believe! No butter! Well, there is oil, but in my book, this cake is pretty much diet food.

(Disregard the fact that it’s slathered in butter and sugar…)

While there is a little cooking required for the apples, this recipe is rather fuss-free. Once the apples have softened up from the cooking, they’re pureed and thrown in with the rest of the cake ingredients. No stand mixer or electric mixer needed–just a good ol’ mixing bowl and wooden spoon. Because there’s nothing more finicky than having to hand clean every little nook and cranny of those pesky electric beaters and whisk attachments.

To frost the cake, I used the same kind of whipped buttercream that I made for the pear cake. Since the cake is sweet enough on it’s own, I didn’t want to cover it with another 4-5 cups of powdered sugar which is usually called for in traditional recipes. This whipped frosting starts with a base of flour and milk that are cooked together, which might sound odd for a frosting, but once it’s added to the whipped butter and sugar, it creates the lightest, airiest, silkiest cloud of buttercream with just the right amount of sweetness.

To compliment the pure apple sweetness in the cake, I flavored the buttercream with the warm spices of Chai–ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. I also added the seeds of one vanilla bean to enhance the spices. 

Being that this buttercream is a little on the moderate side as far as difficulty level, here are a few tips to get the perfect consistency:

1. Make sure to whip the butter and sugar together long enough so that the sugar granules are able to dissolve into the butter. It should be smooth and fluffy so that you don’t end up with a grainy texture.
2. The flour-milk mixture MUST be completely cool (room temperature or cooler) before it’s added to the butter and sugar mixture to prevent separation. 
3. Add the flour-milk mixture to the whipped butter and sugar in four parts. I found that adding the flour mixture gradually rather than all at once prevented the buttercream from curdling. Although if your buttercream does get to that curdled stage, don’t worry! All you have to do is continue whipping the frosting on high and it will eventually turn into this…

If there was one thing I would change about this cake, it would be…

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

This cake was love at first bite. Actually, it was probably love at first sight since we eat with our eyes first. Forget boyfriends and husbands. All I need is a good cake to keep me satisfied for the rest of my life.

I’m so glad I don’t have to share this with anyone but me, myself, and I 😉 

Update Nov. 8, 2016: Due to questions and issues regarding the cake portion of the recipe, I made a few improvements to the recipe which are reflected below. I added about 4 more ounces of apples, a 1/2 cup of oil, 2 more eggs, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves. Thank you for all for your patience and wonderful feedback 🙂

Apple Layer Cake With Vanilla Chai-Spiced Buttercream

Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful homemade apple cake, frosted with the silkiest whipped vanilla chai-spiced buttercream!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 32 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 2 minutes mins

Servings 10 Servings

Ingredients

  

Apple Cake:

• 4 medium-sized apples peeled and cored*
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla Chai-Spiced Buttercream:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cup milk
• 1 ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
• Seeds from 1 vanilla bean**
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom

Instructions

 

Make the Cake:

• Thinly slice the apples and place in a medium saucepan along with both sugars. Cook over medium-high heat, bringing it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the apples are completely tender and cooked through. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.***
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then grease with nonstick cooking spray. Purée the cooled apple mixture in a food processor or blender. Once puréed, you should end up with about 2 cups of the apple purée.
• In a large mixing bowl, use a fork or whisk to stir flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and spices together. Add apple purée, eggs, oil, and vanilla and stir until just combined. Batter will be thick.
• Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Buttercream:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk flour and milk together, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It should look like thick pancake batter. Remove from heat and immediately pour milk mixture into a bowl to cool completely.
• After the milk mixture has cooled to room temperature, use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a beater to cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and spices together on medium-high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure consistency. Whip for 7-8 minutes.
• Add the completely cooled milk mixture in four parts, beating well after each addition. Once all of the milk mixture has been added, beat it for about 3-4 minutes on high until it looks like whipped cream.****

To Assemble:

• Slice each cake layer in half horizontally, so that you end up with 4 layers total. Place one cake layer on a plate or cake pedestal and spread a layer of buttercream. Repeat, alternating layers of cake and filling. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

*Once peeled and cored, it should equal 23 ounces of apples.
**If you don’t have vanilla beans on hand, just add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
***Cooling process can be sped up by placing cooked apple mixture in the refrigerator.
****If the mixture starts looking curdled or separated, don’t worry! Just keep beating and it will eventually come together.