Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve wanted to make this cake for a while now and with the it being autumn and perfect timing, I also realized it was perfect timing because I got the recipe for this (and the pleasure of first tasting it) from Paige and today is her birthday!  Happy Birthday, Paige!  She is the chef I took classes from in Kansas before we moved.  I’ve said it before, but how I miss her/her classes.  Every couple weeks I got to watch her cook and teach and then eat the things she made for the class.  Could anything be better?  And with every class, we were provided with the recipes.  I have a big 3-ring binder full of Paige’s recipes and I use many of the recipes often.  I don’t have to be the only one (well, me and all the others who took/take her classes) to have her expertise and recipes in my arsenal—she has a wonderful blog!  If you haven’t seen it—go!--For Love of the Table.  If you stop by today, wish her a happy birthday! ;)

One of the pleasures of her classes was every couple of months, she’d have a special date night class that was a full three course meal and was only allowed about eight couples.  I “dragged” Kevin to one of those classes and he liked it so much that during the time we were still in Kansas, I don’t think we ever missed one after that.  One of the date night meal classes we took had this cake for dessert and I loved it.  Not to mention, Kevin, who doesn’t really care for cake and really doesn’t like frosting, actually really liked the cake, too.

I ended up deciding to make this cake for Kevin’s birthday celebration we recently had with some of his family.  He still got his usual, traditional cheesecake, but I also made this cake and a few other things as well, like the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I posted a few days ago. 

This cake is perfectly spiced and instead of having chunks of apples, has applesauce which makes for a great moist cake.  The maple cream cheese frosting—well, pardon the pun, IS the icing on the cake.  You’ll want this cake/recipe in your box.  I even think you might want to make it—today.

Apple Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, by Paige Vandegrift

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1  1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1  1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a 10-inch round cake pan, line with a round of parchment paper and grease the parchment.  Flour the pan!  Set aside.  Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides.  This will take 2 to 3 minutes at medium-high speed.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition.  Increase the speed to medium-high and briefly beat until the mixture lightens in color and expands in volume.  By hand, fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the applesauce (add the vanilla with the first half of the applesauce), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean—about 40 to 45 minutes.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.  Loosen the sides of the cake by running a thin knife around the edge of the pan.  Turn the cake out of the pan.  Cool the cake on a wire rack.  Frost with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.

Frosting:

4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (4  1/2 ounces)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy—about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the cream cheese and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds.  Scrape down the sides, drizzle in the maple syrup and beat until smooth, about 15 seconds.  (Paige has adapted a recipe from Maria Helm Sinskey’s The Vintage Kitchen)

Oh, and because it’s also another friend/neighbor’s birthday today, too, I made one and a half times the recipe and baked one 9 inch cake and two 6 inch cakes.  Then I weighed all the batter and put half of it in the nine inch pan and a quarter of it in each of the two 6 inch pans.  I stacked the two small cakes and have a great apple spice layer cake to deliver to my friend today!  Happy Birthday, Jackie!

And again, Happy Birthday, Paige!  (Thanks for having such a great impact on my culinary life, your wonderful classes, sharing your recipes and for being my friend!)

French Yogurt Cake—Happy Birthday, Paige!

Orange Citrus French Yogurt Cake with Berries, August 2011

I made this cake for a family get-together and it was great, especially with the fresh berries!

Just wanted to wish my friend, Paige, chef extraordinaire, from Kansas, who blogs at A Cooking Life a happy birthday today by finally posting about a wonderful cake I had a couple times in her classes I used to be able to take at the Community Mercantile before we moved to Utah.  Man I sure miss those classes and her!  I learned a lot from her about cooking and baking over the year and a half or so that I was able to take her classes and I’m so happy she started a blog a few months before we moved.

I went back to Kansas this past March to visit friends and had the pleasure of taking another one of Paige’s classes while I was there.  I think seven friends and I attended a class, which was really fun and tasty.  The class was actually one I had taken before, but with a few different dishes.  But Paige made her French Yogurt Cake again that I loved the first time and again this next time as well.  I have lost track of how many times I have made this cake and with how many different variations.  The classic French Yogurt Cake can be made as an all vanilla based simple cake, or with lemon or orange for a nice citrus flavor or as Paige served it, as a chocolate/vanilla marble cake. 

Lemon French Yogurt Cake, March 2011

Lemon French Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Coulis and Whipped Cream, March 2011

Chocolate and Vanilla Marbled French Yogurt Cake, March 2011

After taking Paige’s class in March while I was visiting Kansas, I decided to make two versions of the cake at my friend, Mindy’s house where I was staying.  We were getting together the next night after class with all my “reality sisters” for goodies and friendship and Survivor!  This marbled cake I made was delicious and just like the one Paige served in class.

The lemon French yogurt cake I made that night as well was just as good as the chocolate marble cake. 

But I wondered what it would be like to make a whole cake that was all chocolate, so a few month later, I tried it at home.

Chocolate French Yogurt Cake, April 2011

In June, I made the cake with just vanilla extract and used it for strawberry shortcake.  I sliced the cake in half and put whipped cream and strawberries in the middle as well as more on top.  We had company and I just snapped a few quick photos, but the French yogurt cake worked great as a base for the strawberries and cream!

There are a few other times I’ve made the cake and didn’t snap any photos.  If you are looking for a simple cake with many different flavor variations, this is definitely one to have in your recipe collection!  I’m sure glad to have it and thank Paige for sharing it.  French yogurt cake has been around for years, but Paige has tweaked it to perfection (her cake has one egg less than traditional French yogurt cakes).  Here is Paige’s recipe--

French Yogurt Cake, by Paige Vandegrift

At one time, this simple little cake was taught to every  French schoolgirl.  It is a humble cake made from ingredients that would be on hand in most French households.  In France, plain yogurt is sold in individual portions in 125ml glass pots (about half a cup).  This cake was made by measuring all of the major ingredients out using the pot the yogurt came in.  It has many, many variations.  I have chosen to make a chocolate marbled variation because it is a bit unusual and very tasty.  See below for other variations.

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour (3 pots) 180 grams

1/2 teaspoon salt

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar (2 pots) 200 grams

1/2 cup vegetable oil (1 pot)

1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt (I have used nonfat yogurt with success on all cakes—Katrina)

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% to 65%), chopped—melted and cooled

Butter a 9x2 inch round cake pan.  Flour the pan and tap out the excess.

Place the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Place the eggs an vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.  Gradually whisk in the sugar until the mixture is slightly thickened—this will only take about a minute.  Gradually whisk in the oil and continue to whisk briskly for another minute.  Fold in half of the dry ingredients, followed by the yogurt, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, mixing after each addition just until blended.

Pour a little more than half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Blend the melted chocolate into the remaining vanilla batter and mix until well combined.  Pour the chocolate batter over the vanilla batter and with the tip of a spatula or a table knife, gently draw swirls through the batter to marbleize it.  Don’t over mix or you won’t have a marble affect—two zig-zag passes through the pan should be sufficient.

Transfer the cake to a preheated 350 degree oven and bake until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center and a toothpick comes out clean—30 to 35 minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Run a knife around the sides of the pan and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.  Serve dusted with powdered sugar with some whipped cream alongside, if you like.

Variations:

*Omit the chocolate an prepare a plain vanilla cake (use vanilla sugar if you have it).

*Omit the chocolate.  Rub the zest of 2 small lemons or 1 large lemon into the sugar before whisking the sugar into the eggs.  Make a glaze with the juice of two small (or 1 large) lemons (about 1/4 cup strained juice) and 1/4 cup powdered sugar.  After the cake has cooled, spoon the glaze over the cake.  The glaze will be thin and soak in like a syrup.

*Substitute 1/2 cup almond flour/meal (about 2 oz.) for 1/2 cup of the flour.  This can be done for a chocolate marbled, vanilla or citrus version.

*Make the vanilla or lemon version (omit the soaking syrup if you make the lemon cake) and when cooled, split the cake horizontally with a serrated knife.  Spread lemon curd or a favorite jam in between the 2 layers and frost the cake with whipped cream.

*Use the vanilla or almond version for strawberry shortcake.

*For the all chocolate version, I used 7 ounces of bittersweet chocolate—Katrina.  Paige has never tried this version.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIGE!  THANK YOU FOR SO MANY RECIPES, TECHNIQUES, DELICIOUS FOOD AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS!

A Great Blog to Check Out—A Cooking Life, by Chef Paige

Photo courtesy of Paige Vandegrift, check out the link to her post for more photos!

I’ve had the pleasure (Thanks a million, Kevin!) of being in Kansas this week, just as a little getaway without the family (because I believe every mom should get to do this).  I’m visiting friends that I’ve dearly missed since we moved last summer and one of the highlights of the trip has been taking another cooking class from the wonderful, Chef Paige.  Six friends and I were able to make it to the class (missed you, Ellen!) and it was a joy to be there with so many and to enjoy Paige and her expertise and delicious food once again.  How I’ve missed that!

Today happens to mark one year since Paige started a blog.  She posted a yummy looking cake today made with ground pistachios with a chocolate frosting on top.  It looks really good and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, since it’s green from the pistachios.  Check out her post and her blog.  It is always a pleasure to read her posts, especially since I don’t live in Kansas anymore and don’t get to go to her classes.  She mentions in her post thanks to me for encouraging her to start her blog and whether I really feel like I did anything or not, I’m really glad she did and can’t wait to keep reading along.  Thanks, Paige.  I’ve learned more than you know from your classes, your blog, and you!