Apple Pie Cake
Soft, moist, easy apple pie cake recipe from scratch for Thanksgiving, made with simple ingredients. Packed with cinnamon, apple pie filling and frosting.
For me, Fall is more about ENJOYING apple desserts than pumpkin desserts and thus, this apple pie cake was created! hehe. It’s layered with classic American buttercream frosting and my homemade apple pie filling. Some folks in my family prefer this cake with cream cheese frosting. Use whichever frosting works for your taste buds! For decoration, I kept things simple and rustic and used white chocolate shreds and cinnamon sticks.
When I first started experimenting with this cake, I actually made a basic vanilla cake but the flavors of the buttercream and apple pie filling were not complimenting the cake. I called up my Mom and she said to bake a simple cinnamon cake and that worked perfectly! This would be perfect to serve at your Fall and Thanksgiving parties.
TIPS for cinnamon apple pie cake from scratch
- Use unsalted butter to prevent the cake from becoming too salty.
- Granulated sugar cannot be replaced with brown sugar because that makes the cake very dense.
- Adjust the amount of cinnamon, based on your preference. You can also add other spices like nutmeg, allspice e.t.c.
- Do not over-mix the batter because that will make the cake very tough and add too much gluten and ruin the perfect cake texture.
- Once your baked cakes have cooled down, cover them in saran wrap and freeze overnight. This makes trimming the tops and edges easier with barely any crumbs.
- This cake recipe will yield 3 round (8×2) cakes but I just used 2 of them to make this spiced apple pie cake. You can make a taller layer cake with all three cakes, if you like.
- Use fresh ground cinnamon in this cake. It gives the cake such a strong fragrance and flavor.
This is not an apple pie dump cake!
That version is usually made with 2 ingredients: cake mix and apple pie filling. It tastes and looks more like a cobbler than a cake.
Apple pie cake filling
Use homemade apple pie filling or store-bought filling. I prefer homemade because it tastes fresher but canned filling works well too, especially if you are short on time.
Apple pie layer cake/ Apple pie birthday cake
This cake would be great for birthdays. However, keep in mind that layer cakes are usually time consuming. So, I suggest that you DON’T make this layer cake in just one day. Divide the tasks over a few days to simplify the process. Make frosting on day one. Make apple pie filling on day two. Bake the cakes on day three. Assemble everything on day four. This should prevent the process of making a layer cake less over-whelming.
Other apple dessert recipes
- Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake
- Chocolate Caramel Apples
- Easy Caramel Apple Pie
- Easy Homemade Apple Pie Recipe
- Easy Apple Cake With Cake Mix
- Homemade Apple Pie Filling
Apple Pie Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-purpose flour
- 1½ cups Butter, Unsalted, Room temperature
- 2¼ cups Sugar, Granulated
- 1½ cups Milk, Whole
- 4 Egg whites
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
- 2½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- Homemade apple pie filling
- Classic American buttercream frosting
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg whites, vanilla extract and mix (I usually beat for 1 minute).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and ground cinnamon.
- Beat the dry mixture into the wet mixture, alternating with milk, until just combined. The batter will be thick but DO NOT OVER-MIX!
- Pour the batter into three round greased/floured cake pans (Dimension: 8x2).
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes on until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The tops will be brown.
- Allow the cakes to cool down completely.
Assembling
- Trim the brown top and edges of one cake and place it on a cake stand.
- Use a spatula to frost the top of this cake with buttercream and gently, spread some apple pie filling on top of the frosting.
- Trim the brown top and edges of another cake and place it on top of the apple pie filling.
- Use a spatula to frost the top of this cake with buttercream and gently, spread some apple pie filling on top of the frosting.
- Decorate the top of the cake with a few cinnamon sticks.
- Toss some white chocolate shreds around the cake and on top of the cake.
- And you are done!
Notes
- Read my tips above.
- This cake recipe will yield 3 round (8x2) cakes but I just used 2 of them to make this apple pie cake and froze the third one for later. You can make a taller layer cake with all 3 cakes, if you like.
- It's best to freeze the cakes overnight before assembling because this makes it easier to trim the top and edges with barely any crumbs.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Until next time, tata my lovelies!
Wow, this cake is so gorgeous! Apple pie + cake sounds like perfection!