Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

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Recipe photo

Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

star rating (27) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

This cake is an old, old favorite of ours. It's a cake where the whole is definitely more than the sum of the parts. The moist, semi-chunky cake, spread with the frosting equivalent of brown sugar fudge, is perfect served with a cup of coffee or, better still, a glass of ice-cold milk.

Our thanks to the wonderful 
Bakery Lane Soup Bowl cookbook for this recipe.

Cake
2 1/3 cups (9 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups (14 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening (trans-fat free)
4 cups (12 ounces) peeled, chopped apples (about 1 pound before peeling)
1 cup (4 ounces) walnuts, chopped

Brown Sugar Frosting
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) milk
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cake: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan.

Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and walnuts in a large bowl. Beat until well combined; the mixture will be crumbly. Add the apples and walnuts, and mix until the apples release some of their juice and the crumbly mixture becomes a thick batter, somewhere between cookie dough and brownie batter in consistency.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it with your wet fingers. Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until the cake tests done. Remove from the oven and place on a rack, to cool completely; don't remove the cake from pan. When the cake is completely cool, frost with Brown Sugar Frosting.

Frosting: Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts. Add the milk, bring to a boil, and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat well; if the mixture appears too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. Spread on the cake while frosting is still warm.

This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. II, No. 9, September 1991 issue.

Reviews

1 23  All  
  • star rating 02/01/2012
  • Sjohnson22 from KAF Community
  • Very good. I made this twice. Once exactly as the recipe calls out (odd for me) and in the proper size pan. The second time (and so much better) I did the following: Added about a cup more apples, 1/2 cup more rosted walnuts, what amounted to about a 1/4 cup boiled cider, 1/4 teaspoon fiori di sicilla. Then baked it all in a half sheet jelly roll pan so these turn out like bars. I purposfully "over baked" it slightly so they were super chewy and less "wet/moist". If you do this, double the frosting because you are spreading it over a large area and one batch doesnt cover it. The result? Something even more special.....
  • star rating 01/16/2012
  • eafmurray from KAF Community
  • I followed the suggestion of making it a day in advance and found it to be rather soggy. It flattened and became really sticky, like it wasn't fully baked, and yet it was. The frosting is delicious but would be better with 1/2 the recipe and drizzled across the top as the cake and frosting are VERY sweet. I used Earth Balance sticks in place of butter and that worked well. I will try again using some whole wheat flour and a bit less sugar and see if it can hold up better.
  • star rating 01/13/2012
  • lori from ct from KAF Community
  • This uses simple ingredients you will find in the pantry and this is way too easy to make. The picture looks like it would be about an inch thick like a bar type but turned out to be like a cake. I'm glad I didn't double this recipe. Very moist cake. I also went half and half with KAF white whole wheat flour with all purpose flour. Excellent. I will increase the white whole wheat next time for a healthier version. This is the only Apple Cake recipe that will be in my file. Thanks for sharing!
  • star rating 12/12/2011
  • Mary from Michigan
  • I have made this cake twice now with different people eating it and everyone loves it! It is soooo moist and the icing is sweet and perfect for the cake. I did not modify the recipe either time - it is great the way it is written. I will be making this again for sure. It is also very easy to make so if time is short this is perfect.
  • star rating 11/14/2011
  • Peanutty2 from KAF Community
  • Made the Apple Cake for our Saturday knitting group and the ladies loved it - even asked for seconds! The only addition I made to the recipe was 1 T of Boiled Apple Cider which I added to the chopped apples (KAF: should I have added more?). I used a mix of Ambrosia and Fiji apples - both hold their shape nicely when baked. Served the cake without icing but next time I make it I'll bring a container with the icing and the ladies can add if they wish but I find the cake very satisfying without. Thanks KAF for a wonderful recipe - yet again. :)
  • star rating 10/19/2011
  • mebren1121 from KAF Community
  • I've made this cake several times, using different kinds of apples and it was delicious every single time! I made it again today and I used some big Cortland apples. I only changed one thing and that was in the frosting. Instead of using all vanilla, I used a quarter teaspoon of the vanilla and a quarter teaspoon of KAF's Natural Maple Flavor. EXCELLENT!!! That small amount of Maple Flavor put the frosting WAY over the top! And YES, I licked the bowl. I just HAD to! YUMMY GOOD!!!
  • star rating 10/09/2011
  • Nicole from Alanta, Georgia
  • This cake was easy to prepare and DELISH! It was so easy that my 5yo made it (mostly). We served ours without the icing or walnuts but instead with ice cream! We will make this again!
  • star rating 05/25/2011
  • Brenda Costello from KAF Community
  • Good recipe. Made some changes like using KA-Whole Wheat Flour and using one cup of applesauce.
  • star rating 05/01/2011
  • lanaclark from KAF Community
  • This is a wonderful cake and the brown sugar frosting is absolutely amazing! If you taste it before frosting the cake there is a chance that there won't be enough frosting left for the cake! On another occasion I made the frosting recipe and put a couple tablespoons of peanut butter in the butter & brown sugar mixture and used it to frost chocolate cupcakes. It was a hit!
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