Cozy loaf alert: Apple Spice Cake is made with apple butter, warm spice, and a drizzle of vanilla glaze. Simple to whip up and stays moist for days!
Apple Spice Cake is the fall loaf I make on repeat ~ apple butter + sour cream keep the crumb plush, warm spices perfume the kitchen, and a thin vanilla glaze gives each slice a little shine and snap. Two bowls and a whisk, that’s it.
- ultra-moist ~ apple butter + sour cream = plush crumb
- fragrantly spiced ~ exactly the cozy aroma you want right now
- vanilla-glazed ~ a thin pour, big payoff (aim for glaze in every bite!)
- quick-mix ~ two bowls + a whisk; in the oven fast
apple butter is key to my apple spice cake
Apple butter is simply apples cooked down to a very thick purée, often with warm spices. In baking it behaves a lot like canned pumpkin ~ moisture, flavor, and a tender crumb ~ which is why it works so well in this apple loaf cake.
Store-bought or homemade?
Use either, but thickness matters. If your homemade batch isn’t as thick as commercial apple butter (more like applesauce), reduce it on the stove or strain before measuring, or it will throw off the recipe.
A note on flavor
Most commercial apple butters include sugar and spices, so every loaf will taste a little different ~ that’s normal. Even if your apple butter is spiced, the spices in this cake won’t overwhelm.
Want more apple coming through?
For bigger apple notes in this apple spice cake fold in some finely diced apple (firm, tart varieties do best.)
make your own apple butter from apple sauce!
don’t throw away any leftover apple butter!
You’ll have a bit leftover from making your apple spice cake, but no worries:
- apple butter brandy meatballs
- apple butter pulled pork
- apple butter cake with brown sugar frosting
- slow cooked apple butter baked beans
Apple Spice Cake
Equipment
- standard 9×5 loaf pan
Ingredients
dry ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp allspice
wet ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup apple butter
- ½ cup sour cream
for the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tbsp milk, to thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper for easy removal. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients and whisk well to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix just until combined, don't over beat.
- Spread the dough into a 9×5 loaf pan and bake for about 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
- Cool on a rack while you make the glaze.
- To make the glaze, whisk the confectioner's sugar with the milk and vanilla extract to form a spreadable glaze.
- Spread the glaze on the warm cake.
Nutrition
fall baking bucket list
I just made this with a few substitutions: sadly didn’t have apple butter so I used apple sauce instead (as a result, I doubled the spices). I also substituted sour cream for the yogurt and added 1.5 chopped up apples) and baked it in a slightly longer loaf pan (the extra long one from IKEA). Baked for 60 min. Turned out beautifully. If I was to make it again this way, I think I’d triple the spices but I tend to like my spice cakes über spicy.
Thanks for all that info Gina — it’s good to know that applesauce works, because sometimes apple butter is hard to find. I would have thought it would be too watery. A few other readers have added chopped apples with success, I may try that next time. Thanks for visiting!
Oh wow this sounds lovely. will have to give this a go. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Just made this tonight, and in love.
Thanks for the recipe!
I love this one too Ruby — hope it becomes a favorite!