Mom’s Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hi!

Happy Tuesday!

Fall is officially here which means all things pumpkin, apples, soup, and sweaters! Fall to me always means its time to bake my favorite dessert of all time….

Mom’s Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake you guys…IS THE FREAKING BEST!!! NO AMOUNT OF CAPS CAN CONVEY MY GENUINE PASSION AND BELIEF THAT THIS IS THE ONLY FALL DESSERT YOU WILL EVER NEED!!

Ok sorry, I’m done. But if you only bake one thing this fall, this cake should be it. It is SO moist, filled with so many apples, and anything topped with cream cheese frosting is an automatic win. My mom has been making this cake for me my whole life and growing up I always looked forward to fall specifically for this cake.

My mom has a recipe book filled with a bunch of scrap pieces of paper of recipes collected over the years which is one of my favorite things to look at. I mean, just look at how this recipe is written. No instructions, just like here’s the ingredients and figure it out. Also so many old school recipes call for shortening which I love. I substitute butter because most people don’t feel the need to buy shortening these days.

The cake starts by mixing 5 cups of chopped apples, lemon juice, and chopped walnuts together. Yes , there are a LOT of apples in this cake. Which is what makes its so good. I mean, its practically a health food 😉

Next you cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla. Then add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

The hardest part of this recipe is mixing the chopped apples into the batter. You want to do this by hand so that you don’t crush the apples. It takes a few minutes of mixing/folding but it will come together. It will seem like you have way too many apples for the amount of cake mixture but trust me, it is just the right amount.

This recipe makes either one 9 by 13inch cake or two 8 by 8 inch cakes. I went with 2 8 by 8 inch cakes so that I could share the love with friends at work.

You can definitely line the pan with parchment paper so you are able to easily remove the cake from the pan once cooled, but this is really a “eat out of the pan” cake for me. So you do you! Bake for 1 hour exactly and then allow to cool. Your house will smell incredible.

Like just look at that cristalized sugar and the plump apples. You can definitely even eat this without the frosting but I may judge you slightly..

While the cake bakes mix the cream cheese frosting. Beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt until smooth.

oh my goshhhhhh swan dive!

Frost and cut yourself a nice slice! This is seriously my favorite cake of all time. I hope you give it a try!

Mom’s Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes one 9 by 13 inch cake (or two 8 by 8 inch cakes)

Ingredients:

• 5 cups chopped and peeled apples (about 4 apples) 
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts 
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt 

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 by 13 inch pan with parchment paper. Or simply spray heavily with pam! You can also make 2 8 by 8 inch cakes if preferred. 
2. In a large bowl mix together the chopped apples, lemon juice, and walnuts and set aside. 
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
4. Next add in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon) and mix until just combined.
5. By hand, fold in the apple mixture to the batter. It will seem like there are too many apples for the amount of cake batter, but trust me, it is the perfect amount. Mix by hand until the batter is nicely incorporated with the apple mixture.
6. Pour mixture into your cake pan and bake for 1 hour. 
7. For the frosting, beat together all ingredients and season to taste. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

Brb going to go eat bites of cake straight from the pan 🙂

Have a good day everyone!

xoxox Chelcie