Apple Fritter Cake

Have you heard? I wrote another cookbook! It’s called Sheet Pan Sweets and it hits the shelves October 4th! It’s choc full of recipes to fill your dessert table and bake sale cravings, from sheet cakes to rolled and layered cakes, from cookies and bars to pies and other fruit forward desserts, and there’s even a chapter full of breakfast and brunch goodies, to boot.

Want a sneak peek? HERE YOU GO! This Apple Fritter Cake comes from the breakfast and breads section of the book, and it’s the perfect way to use up all of those apples you hauled home from your recent trip to the apple orchard (when those first hints of fall arrive, it’s time to throw on that flannel – actual temperature be damned – and haul out to the apple farm stat, yes?!).

This cake is dense yet bouncy, studded with pockets of fresh apple and cinnamon and bathed in a milky, maple-y glaze. It’s an homage to the best thing in the case at your local donut shop – the apple fritter, of course – and also to my Grandpa Gene, who loved them so much he’d practically stamp his name on the apple fritter in the big box of donuts he’d bring over for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. This recipe will give you that perfect apple fritter essence without frying, and double bonus? There’ll be more than enough for everyone.

Apple Fritter Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 c. packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 c. canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. pure almond extract
• 4 c. chopped peeled apples (about 3 large; I like a mix of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious)

For the glaze: 

• 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. whole milk

Directions

To prepare the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees with a rack in the center position. Grease a sheet pan with butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, melted butter and oil until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond extract and whisk well to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together. Fold in the apples until evenly distributed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly to the corners with a large offset spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cake is deeply golden and the edges just start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Set the sheet pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool for 20 to 25 minutes.

To prepare the glaze: Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a rubber spatula, until the butter turns a toasted, amber color (it will bubble and spit; when it quiets down, check for browning). Whisk in the powdered sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and milk until smooth.

Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled cake. Let set for 5 minutes.

Slice the cake into pieces and serve. The cake is best the day it’s made, but will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.