Start off autumn with the season’s bounty of apples! This New England Apple Cake has a velvety texture with a compliment of warm spices.
Go inland. Away from the ports, the rocky shores, and whipping Atlantic air.
Get closer to the towns nudged into valleys or on the banks of rivers. Stone mills lay stream-side like artifacts of livelihoods.
Here Tuckerberries and corn give way to apples and gourds. Orchards sink under the autumnal weight. There is something about New England autumns that evoke a sense of age. Not worn, not decayed. This sort of age is antiqued the same way that a patina forms, shielded from sun, hidden in quilt chests.
Here the quintessential vibrancy of crisp autumn is exchanged for something subdued and ever so intriguing. Subtle classics don’t show all of their cards.
This New England Apple Cake is wrapped in the colors a northeast town. Pewter blue, with plaid accents of rust red, sage green, and buttermilk yellow.
Underneath the décor, apple spice seasonings don’t overpower the mouth. Rather the blend accentuates the natural apple flavor.
The New England Apple Cake is for slipping into that hunters jacket. Spend the morning splitting the (now finally) dried cords of wood. It is a cake to be enjoyed with Beech-nut coffee, the eyes absorbing the slate grey afternoons.
Baking Talk:
Just like with any fruit filled cake, the less moisture the better. When shredding the apples, squeeze out the excess moisture with paper towels before incorporating the fruit into the batter.
Though not instructed , toasting the nuts in a dry skillet before chopping and incorporating makes for a better developed walnut flavor.
For more Autumn recipes:
New England Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the New England Apple Cake
- 2¼ cup all-purpose flour 270g
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 3-4 Granny Smith apples peeled and finely grated
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1¼ cup canola oil
- 1½ cups granulated sugar 300g
- ⅔ cups light brown sugar firmly packed (135g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts toasted and chopped
For the Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 24 ounces 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup 2 sticks, 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 pounds powdered sugar sifted
- Food gel optional if desired to duplicate design
Instructions
To make the New England Apple Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 8-inch baking pans. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices to combine. Set aside.
- Line a plate with paper towels. Take the finely grated apples and dry them out on the paper towels, pressing the towels to absorb any excess liquid.
- Combine the eggs, oil, granulated and light brown sugars, and the vanilla extract. To this wet mixture add the dry ingredients. Fold in the apples and walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans, tapping the pans on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating half way.
- Remove from the oven, let them rest in the pans for 10 minutes before removing them to cool completely.
To make the Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on a medium-high speed, scraping down the bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the vanilla then slowly add the sifted powdered sugar.