a delicously moist chai spice cake filled with caramelized apples, thats topped with a brown butter cream cheese buttercream and salted maple caramel. this is all the wonderful flavors of fall in one easy to make layer cake!
electric or stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
food scale, recommended
candy thermometer
Ingredients
caramelized apple sauce
3-4 (330-340g)medium-large apples, peeled and cubed (about 5-6 c)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
1tbsp ground cinnamon
chai spice cake
2c (250g)all purpose flour
1 c (120g)cake floursee notes
2tsp (8g)baking powder
1tsp (6g)baking soda
2 tbsp (10g)chai or pumpkin spicesee notes
1tsp salt
1c (237ml)caramelized apple puree or applesauce see notes
½ c (113g)unsalted butter, softened
½ c (118ml)canola oil or preferred netural baking oil
1 ⅓ c (270g)brown sugar
4large eggs, room temperature
2tsp (10ml)vanilla extract
⅔c (158ml)buttermilksee notes
brown butter cream cheese buttercream
1c(226g)unsalted butter, browned and reduced down to 12tbsp (169g)
8oz. (226g)cream cheese, room temperature
4c (480g)powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 tbsp (60-90ml)milk of choice, as needed
1tsp (5ml)vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
salted maple caramel
1 c (237ml)pure maple syrup
2tbsp (28g)unsalted butter, evenly cubed
¼ c (60ml)heavy cream
½ - 1 tsp flaky salt
Instructions
caramelized apple sauce
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Once melted, add cubed apples and cook 5 minutes over medium heat. Apple will brown slightly. Add maple syrup and ground cinnamon. MIx well to combine. Continue to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. The syrup will thicken and the apples will soften. Remove from heat, straight into a food processor or blender. Cool apples for 10 minutes or to almost room temperature before pureeing. Measure out 1 c. Enjoy any leftovers as is or with yogurt, granola, on toast, etc. This step is optional, but gives the cake a wonderful texture while bringing lots of flavor. If you prefer to skip the puree step, make sure to smaash the apples really well, like you would making banana bread.
caramelized apple spice cake
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two 9" cake pans with parchment paper along the bottom. If needed, lightly grease the pans. Use non stick if possible. Set aside.If making homemade buttermilk: combine the milk and lemon juice, stir and allow the milk about 10 minutes to curdle.
Whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, chai (or pumpkin) spice and salt. Set aside.
In stand mixer with whisk attachment or hand held with beaters, beat oil and room temperature butter on medium speed until smooth and well combined, about 3 minutes. On medium speed, beat in a slow stream of sugar. Beat until light, fluffy and well combined.This should take about 2-3 minutes in total.
Add eggs one at a time. Beat each egg for about 20 seconds before adding another egg. Add vanilla extract. Beat until well combined. Add caramelized apple puree a few tablespoons at a time. Beat until fully combined.
Using a large spatuala, mix the dry ingredients and buttermilk into the wet, in this order: dry, milk, dry, milk, dry. Make sure not to overmix.Wet cake strips if using and fit around the prepared cake pans.
Evenly pour cake batter into each of the prepared cake pans. If using a food scale, make sure to take the weight of each cake pan prior to filling. Make sure the an even weight of batter is added to each pan. If you don't have a good scale, add 1 c to each pan until all the batter is added.
Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Cakes will be golden brown, with edges pulled slighly from the sides of the pan. The middle of the cake should quickly spring back when a finger is pressed gently onto the top, when the cake is baked through. If the indent slowly springs back, bake an addtional 2-3 minutes. Start checking for doneness around 28 minutes.
Once baked, rest cakes in the pan for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack. Carefully invert the cake onto the cooling rack ( or plate placed on top.) Tap the pan a few times to encourage the cake to release. Lift the cake pan off the cake (which should be face down on the second cooling rack). Place the original cooling rack on the lined bottom of the cake. Gently flip right side up. Cool the cake on the cooling rack for about 1 hour.Wrap each of the cakes in plastic cling. Chill the room temperature cakes for 2-3 hours or overnight to make frosting easier. When ready to frost, pull the cakes from the freezer.
brown butter buttercream frosting
Once the cake is baking, make the brown butter. To make brown butter, melt butter in a clear heavy bottom pot or sauce pan. You can use the same one from caramelizing the apples. Once the butter starts to foam, whisk continuously until brown bits start to form. Remove from heat, pour into clean bowl, skim the foam from the top and cool to room temperature (25-30 minutes).Chill the butter in the fridge an addtional 30-40 minutes. You can the butter to be softened like room temperature butter. While chilling the butter in the fridge, pull out the cream cheese to come to room temperature.
In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or with electric mixer and beaters, cream together the brown butter and cream cheese until smooth and well combined, about 4-5 minutes. Add sifted powdered sugar ½ c at a time. Add vanilla extract and salt. Beat on high until desired consistency is reached. Add milk as needed to thin out the frosting. If the frosting becomes too soft, place the mixing bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
salted maple syrup****
Pour maple syrup into a small or medium sauce pan. Place candy thermometer into the pot. Bring the maple syrup to a boil over medium heat. Allow maple syrup to boil without stirring until it reaches 230F on the thermometer. This is right before soft boil. Once it reaches this temperature, remove from heat and whisk in butter until fully combined.Pour in heavy cream, stir until fully combined. Add salt and stir until fully combined. Pour salted maple caramel sauce into a heat proof airtight container to bring to room temperature. Caramel can be kept at room temperature for a day. Store in the fridge for longer storage, up to 1-2 weeks. Gently reheat in the microwave. You will have caramel sauce leftover from this recipe. To top the cake you will need about ¼ c of caramel sauce.
assembling the cake
Spread about 1 teaspoon frosting on the cake stand or serving plate. Place bottom cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread ¾ c frosting on the top of the bottom cake layer. Add the next cake on top of the frosting. Spread ¾ c on top of the top cake layer. Spread the frosting to the edges, leaving the excess frosting hanging off the edges. Spread the remaining frosting along the sides. Dirzzle the caramel over the edges of the cake. Using a spatula, frosting knife or back of a spoon, smear the caramel into the frosting. This caramel is thinner than tradtional caramel, so expect the caramel to run a bit. Add caramel to the top.Once assembled with frosting and caramel sauce, the cake can be placed in the fridge until ready to serve (the same day). If serving the cake more than a few hours after preparing it, all components can be prepared in advance. Assemble the same day you plan to serve the cake.
Notes
*The pureed apples is optional as you can easily substitute this with store bought apple sauce. But, the flavors and textures of the caramelized pureed apples really tastes better. **Homemade buttermilk can be made by combining ⅔ c milk with 2 teaspoon lemon juice. Mix well and allow to curdle for about 10 minutes. ***Measure out 1 c all purpose flour. Remove 2 tablespoon of the flour. Add back in 2 tablespoon cornstarch. Sift the new flour mixture 4 times. ****If you prefer to use store bought caramel sauce or regular homemade caramel sauce feel free to do so. You will end up using about ¼ c to top the cake. Chai spice mix.3 tablespoon ground ginger 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon ground allspice 1 tablespoon ground cardamon 1 ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves Place all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well to combine. Store in a spice jar or small mason jar.Pumpkin pie spice:⅓ c ground cinnamon (32 g)2 ½ tablespoon ground ginger (15 g)2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (4g)1 teaspoon ground allspice (4g)½ teaspoon ground cardamon (1g)Mix all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Store in an airtight container such as spice jar or small glass mason jar.