Fall is my favorite time of the
year and, having moved to Florida, this is when I miss the Northeast most – the
turning of the leaves, the crisp bite in the air, pumpkin-flavored everything
and the abundance of apples at the farmers’ market. We still get a decent
selection of apples here, but they’re not exactly local, and there’s nowhere
near the variety. But I remain inspired by my memories, and continue to bake up
a storm with harvest flavors throughout the season. Currently I’m on an apple
kick, as you may have noticed. Here’s one of my favorite fall recipes, a
simple, homespun cake made with applesauce (use your own or a good organic
jarred one) and
flavored with fall spices – cinnamon, cloves and ginger. I use
turbinado instead of white sugar in the cake, and this gives it a slightly
coarser texture and a complex flavor with a just a hint of molasses. But it’s
the topping that takes the cake – a silky cream cheese and maple frosting and
lots of crunchy, sugar-coated pecans. Make
sure to use a pure maple extract -- not that horrible artificial maple "flavoring" that's so frequently used in maple desserts. You can find it in better supermarkets (Whole Foods has it) or on Amazon. For an extra hit of maple, drizzle each slice with a
little Grade A pure maple syrup right before serving.
Applesauce
Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Pecans
Adapted from a recipe in my book Flavorful (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
2015)
Makes one 9-inch square cake,
serving 8
Applesauce
Cake:
2 cups (265 g/9.3 oz) all-purpose
flour
¾ teaspoon (3.75 g/0.13 oz)
baking powder
¾ teaspoon (1.5 g/0.05 oz) ground
cinnamon
½ teaspoon (1 g/0.03 oz) ground
ginger
¼ plus 1/8 teaspoon (2.5 g/0.08
oz) fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon (1.25 g/0.04 oz)
baking soda
1/8 teaspoon (0.25 g/0.009 oz)
ground cloves
11 tablespoons (155 g/5.4 oz)
unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (250 g/8.8 oz) turbinado
sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon (4 g/0.14 oz) vanilla
extract
1 cup (242 g/8.5 oz) unsweetened
applesauce
¾ cup (75 g/2.6 oz) pecans,
chopped
Candied
Pecans:
1/2 cup (50 g/1.76 oz) pecan
halves
1 teaspoon (4 g/0.14 oz) vanilla
extract
2 teaspoons (8 g/0.3 oz)
granulated sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
Maple
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup (227 g/8 oz) cream cheese,
at room temperature
8 tablespoons (113 g/4 oz)
unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (128 g/4.5 oz)
confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon (2 g/0.07 oz) vanilla
extract
¼ teaspoon (1 g/0.03 oz) natural
maple flavoring*
Note: Available in some supermarkets
or online at a variety of sources, including King Arthur Flour (www.kingarthurflour.com).
Make
the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan and dust the pan with flour.
Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift
together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda and
cloves. Gently whisk to combine and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric
mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed
until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the turbinado sugar and beat at
high speed until very light, about 6 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and
add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and stopping to
scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the
vanilla extract and mix until blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the
flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the applesauce in two
additions and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until
barely blended. Add the pecans and mix just until combined. Remove the bowl
from the mixer stand and stir the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to
ensure that it is blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth
the top. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and
a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake
in the pan set on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
Make
the Candied Pecans:
4. Place the pecans in a small
bowl and toss well with the vanilla, sugar and salt. Scatter the nuts on a
baking sheet and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, tossing them once during baking,
until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
Make
the frosting:
5. In the bowl of an electric
mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter,
confectioners’ sugar, salt and extracts together at medium speed until blended.
Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Frost
the cake:
6. Swirl the frosting
decoratively over the top of the cake in the pan. Arrange the Candied Pecans on
top as desired and cut rectangles or squares of the cake from the pan. Store
the cake, loosely covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. Bring the
cake to room temperature before serving.