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This moist spice cake is flavored with rich apple butter and topped with a decadent brown butter frosting. This apple butter cake is fall perfection in every bite!
There’s nothing more quintessentially fall than a trip to the apple orchard. And if you live in my house, that trip is always followed up by making at least 1 or 2 batches of my homemade apple butter.
When I was thinking about Thanksgiving recipes this year, I wanted a way to incorporate some of that apple butter. It feels kind of full circle to do that, right?
(I mean besides slathering it all over parker house rolls. That’s a given!)
This apple butter cake is an easy-to-make sheet cake that is topped with brown butter frosting. It has all of the rich flavors of apple butter in a perfectly moist cake. Add in the nutty flavor of the brown butter frosting and this is one incredible dessert!
MOIST APPLE BUTTER CAKE WITH BROWN BUTTER FROSTING
My slow cooker apple butter has been a favorite here on MBA for years. But for some reason I’ve never used it in other recipes! I knew this had to be the year that changed.
After all, it’s also the year I learned how to can apple butter. I guess it’s just a year of new things.
What better way to start than with an apple butter cake?
I decided to take my pumpkin bundt cake and tweak it as the base for this recipe. After a few changes, including turning it into a sheet cake instead of a bundt cake, I had the perfect apple butter cake.
This cake is moist, richly flavored with apple butter and apple pie spice, and is finished with my brown butter frosting. Although I also tried it dusted with a bit of powdered sugar and it was just as delicious, so you really can’t go wrong here.
I think this cake would be incredible as a Thanksgiving dessert, but it’s really just as perfect for a random weekday treat as it is for a special occasion.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE BUTTER CAKE
This apple butter cake is so delicious that your family will definitely think it was hard to make. You don’t have to tell anyone that the cake itself doesn’t even require a mixer.
Ingredients you’ll need
If you’ve been making a bunch of apple butter this fall, this cake is for you. To make it, you will need:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups homemade apple butter
- 1 cup grated apple, from about 1 large or 2 small peeled apples
Yes, you read that right. This recipe uses an entire cup and a half of apple butter. Plus a cup of grated apple!
I use my homemade apple butter in this recipe, but you can use a jar from your local apple orchard or grocery store.
Just make sure you don’t use applesauce! That is something different entirely and won’t give you the rich flavor that makes this apple butter cake special.
Because the apples in this recipe are grated and break down into the batter, it doesn’t really matter what variety of apples you use. I used some pink lady apples I had on hand, but any will work here.
Helpful resources
- Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly before getting started so this cake turns out perfect every time.
- Went to make this cake and discovered that your brown sugar had hardened? Save yourself a trip to the store and learn about softening brown sugar with a few simple tricks.
- Ran out of brown sugar altogether? Make a brown sugar substitute with granulated sugar and a bit of molasses.
Making this recipe
This cake is made in a 13×9-inch pan. Spray the pan with nonstick spray; if you want to be able to easily lift the cake out of the pan later, I also recommend lining it with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice, and salt. Set this aside for now.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars with the vegetable oil. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
Switch out the whisk for a spatula for the rest of the recipe. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the apple butter by adding ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the apple butter. Repeat, ending with the final third of the dry ingredients.
Fold in the grated apple, then spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the apple butter cake for 40-45 minutes. It’s done with a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before topping with brown butter frosting.
MORE SERVING SUGGESTIONS
I am obsessed with the combination of this richly flavored apple butter cake with the savory sweetness of brown butter frosting, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only frosting option you have!
You could take inspiration from my banana cake and top this cake with tangy cream cheese frosting.
You could also go with my traditional buttercream frosting or even a simple whipped cream frosting.
I think this cake is even delicious with just a simple dusting of powdered sugar for more of a snack-cake type of vibe. Really, you can’t go wrong!
FAQS
How should you store apple butter cake?
If you have topped your apple butter cake with brown butter frosting, regular buttercream, or powdered sugar, you can store this cake (covered) at room temperature for up to 3 days.
If you decide to go with a cream cheese frosting or whipped cream frosting, you will want to store the cake in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature.
Do you have to use homemade apple butter?
Nope! You can use your favorite brand of apple butter if you don’t have any homemade.
Can I substitute applesauce for apple butter in this recipe?
No. Even though applesauce and apple butter are closely related, apple butter has a much richer flavor than applesauce. You do need to use apple butter to get the right flavor in this cake.
If you’re looking for a recipe that uses applesauce, try my friend Stephie’s applesauce bread instead.
I don’t have apple pie spice – what else can I use instead?
That’s ok! You have a couple of options:
If you have pumpkin pie spice, that will work just fine, too. Or you can simply substitute ground cinnamon. The cake will be delicious either way.
Can I freeze this apple butter cake?
Yes! You can freeze it before or after adding the frosting. I have an entire post on freezing cake that will walk you through all of the options, whether you want to freeze the entire cake or just freeze some leftover slices.
MORE RECIPES USING APPLE BUTTER
Obviously we love apple butter around here. If you’re looking for some more recipes using apple butter, I’ve got a few suggestions for you.
Try swapping out the cranberry sauce in these cranberry brie bites for apple butter.
You can also turn your apple butter into a delicious entree by making apple butter roast chicken or apple butter chicken burgers.
For something on the sweet side, try making apple butter babka, an apple butter pumpkin pie, or even an apple butter chai latte.
And don’t forget to try this deliciously decadent apple butter cake. I know it’ll be a huge hit.
Apple Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups homemade apple butter
- 1 cup grated apple from about 1 large or 2 small peeled apples
- 1 batch brown butter frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars and vegetable oil. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
- Switching to a spatula, alternate adding the flour mixture with the apple butter: add a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the apple butter, making sure to mix until combined after each addition. Repeat, ending with the final addition of the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the grated apple. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before topping with brown butter frosting or your favorite frosting of choice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious and simple cake! My son and his wife had given me some homemade apple butter so I came across your recipe searching for something to do with apple butter as I had quite a bit of it. It reminds me of the old “depression” cakes made with oil; same type of moisture. I’m in process of making the brown butter frosting this morning but just had to review to say, it’s great plain, with a smear of apple butter or I used some maple butter I had and it was out of this world. I don’t keep apple pie spice on hand so made some with grated allspice, nutmeg, powdered ginger, cardamom, and heaviest in the cinnamon. Because it made enough for a 9×13 and it’s just me and the husband at home now, I put it into two 8×8 squares so I can give one away (or freeze it?!)
This will be a new fall staple for me. If like me, you are looking for something that captures fall and uses up all those apples besides apple pie, apple sauce, apple turnovers….definitely try this cake. I can also see that this could easily be customized e.g. adding nuts, pears, etc. Can’t wait until the frosting is ready!
DELICIOUS. New Fall favorite. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. Perfect as written.
I made this and it is the weirdest tasting cake. The cake is sooo good. The frosting is truly the best tasting I’ve ever made. Together it is just odd. I hope it’s better cold. This was my first time browning butter too. I was amazed I didn’t burn it.
Do you think I could use browned butter in place of the oil in this recipe?
Hi Lynn-
I haven’t tried this substitution, but it sounds delish! If you try it, definitely let me know.
Jamie
This cake was amazing! I added two peeled and shredded Granny Smith apples and cooked it in a 12-cup bundt pan. It took about 55-65 minutes to bake, but it was super moist and had a great flavor! I served this today along with the Pumpkin Bundt cake from this site (my family’s absolute favorite), and they were both gone in no time. Thanks for all of the fabulous recipes!
Robyn-
I am so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Could this be baked in a Bundt pan instead of the 9” x 13” pan? It sounds AMAZING!
Hi Robyn – Yes, that should be fine. The original recipe it’s based on is a bundt cake, so I don’t see any reason that shouldn’t work! Happy baking!
Jamie
looks good and can you use store brought apple butter and use a different frosting
That should be just fine.