Apple Crisp Cake
A two-layer cinnamon cake with spiced apple pie filling, whipped vanilla buttercream, and brown sugar oat crumble topping. It's like an apple crisp and a layer cake had a delicious baby.
Servings: 12 slices
Ingredients
Cinnamon Cake Layers
- 2 c brown sugar, packed
- 1 c butter, room temperature
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 c all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1 c milk, regular or non-dairy
Apple Pie Filling
- 4.5 c peeled & diced apples (about 4-5 medium apples)
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 c brown sugar, packed
- 1 1/2 T all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch each nutmeg and cardamom (optional)
- pinch salt
Oat Crumble
- 1/2 c brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 c old-fashioned oats
- 5 T all-purpose flour
- pinch salt
- 4 T cold butter, cut into cubes
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 c butter, room temperature
- pinch salt
- 3 c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 c heavy whipping cream, room temperature
Instructions
Cinnamon Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), cream brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
- Add eggs one at a time, beating just until combined in between. Scrape bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
- Add flour mixture, mixing on low speed until combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no bits of flour mixture hiding there.
- Add milk and mix on low speed until combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (or mostly clean with a few moist crumbs on it). Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan and set on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Apple Pie Filling
- In a large saucepan, combine apples, lemon juice, and sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, combine flour, spices, and salt in a small bowl. Add to apple mixture (after the 30 minutes is complete). Heat on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens and apples start to soften. Remove from heat and let cool completely before using it to fill the cake.
Oat Crumble
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour, and salt. Toss in the cold butter chunks, and use your fingers to rub the butter into the sugar mixture until it is in pea-sized pieces.
- Spread mixture into a thin layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until browned. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Break or crumble into pieces.
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter until creamy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar and salt, and mix until combined. Then whip on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream. Whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy like whipped cream, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Putting it all together...
- Place one cake layer onto a plate, cake stand, or whatever you'll serve it on. Using a piping bag (no tip needed) or a ziploc bag with the corner cut off, pipe a line of frosting along the outside edge of the cake layer (see pic).
- Next, spread all of the apple pie filling (yes, all of it! It will seem like a lot, but trust me) inside the line of frosting, spreading it out evenly.
- Place the second layer on top of the filling. Use the rest of the frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. It will be a very thin coat of frosting (like a "naked" cake sort of look).Tip: if the top cake layer is sliding around as you're trying to frost the cake, pop it into the fridge for 10 minutes, then continue frosting.
- Sprinkle the oat crumble over the top of the cake. Slice it up, serve, and enjoy!
- Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.