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Slice of apple pecan spice cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting on a plate.

Apple Pecan Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Cheese Frosting

Apple pecan spice cake bakes chopped tart apples into sixteen squares beneath brown sugar cream cheese frosting.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Base cooling and frosting firming 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 16 squares

Equipment

  • Deep 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan of at least 3 quarts
  • Mixer
  • Mixing bowls
  • Cooling rack
  • Offset spatula

Ingredients
  

Cake

  • 4 cups peeled chopped tart apples
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup neutral oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup pasteurized milk
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 teaspoon neutral oil Pan

Frosting

  • 8 ounces pasteurized cream cheese Briefly softened
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter Softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup finely textured light brown sugar
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350°F and grease the deep pan. Mix apples with cake sugar, oil, eggs and cake vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt separately, fold through the apple mixture, stir in milk and fold in pecans.
  • Spread evenly with headroom. Bake forty to fifty-five minutes until a tester away from apple gives baked crumbs without wet batter, shielding early browning if needed. Rack-cool forty-five to sixty minutes, then refrigerate while making frosting so the base becomes fully cool.
  • Beat cream cheese and frosting butter smooth. Add frosting vanilla and finely textured brown sugar, scraping the bowl. Refrigerate ten minutes and beat again, then gradually mix in powdered sugar until spreadable.
  • Spread over the completely cool cake and refrigerate about thirty minutes. Cut four by four into sixteen squares.

Notes

Preparation: Measure four cups after peeling and chopping the tart fruit.
Storage: Keep the frosted cake covered at 40°F or below and use within three days. Refrigerate waiting frosting while the baked base cools. Return remaining squares promptly to refrigeration. Protect cut surfaces and do not spread dairy frosting onto warm cake to speed assembly.
Keyword apple pecan spice cake