Cider Glazed Apple Cake
I saw this recipe pop up recently on my Instagram feed, perfect for the fall! The original was a beautiful bundt cake, but I generally don’t need an entire bundt cake at once, that’s a lot of cake! I searched the internet to find the recipe (it’s from America’s Test Kitchen and their recipes can be tough to find!) and thankfully I was able to find it without too much difficulty, and the recipe even stated that it could also be made into two loaves pans, perfect! Just cut in half and it’s a much more manageable size for me.
The only issue with halving the recipe was that the original called for 3 eggs, I ended up just using 1 egg to make things easier. I also cut back on the sugar when making it for myself which seemed to work out fine. With all the apples for added sweetness I found half a cup of sugar was plenty.
I have now made this recipe twice, the first time I used apple cider as called for which really helped amped up the apple flavor, however, I usually don’t have apple cider in the house and if I want to make a quick and delicious apple bread I don’t always want to have to go out and buy it. I was thinking about making a quick simple syrup, but then I remembered that I had some fun liqueur in the basement that would probably work. I ended up using a sweetened espresso liqueur. I didn’t end up really tasting it in the finished product but it still worked out well and if I had a stronger flavored liqueur it might shine through.
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Cider Glazed Apple Cake
Original recipe from America’s Test Kitchen
The original recipe was double the recipe found below and called for a bundt pan, but could also be made into two 9x5 inch loaf pans. I halved the recipe and made one 8.5x4.5 loaf.
Ingredients
2 cups apple cider (reduced to 1/2 cup) the second time I made this I didn’t have any cider so I used some coffee liqueur instead, straight up without reducing it any
1 7/8 cups (9 3/8 ounces) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon all spice
3/8 cup (1 1/2 ounces) powdered sugar
1 stick butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar I cut back on the sugar and only used 1/2 cup (3.5 oz)
1 1/2 eggs - I used 1 egg to make things easier on myself
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 pound of Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, shredded - I shredded up two medium sized Fuji apples and it was almost exactly 12 ounces, shredded, and that worked great. I also did not peel my apples although the original recipe said to peel before grating.
Directions
Bring cider to boil in large skillet over high heat; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. If you accidentally over-reduce, just add a bit of water to make sure you have 1/2 cup of liquid in total.
While cider is reducing, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour your pan. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice in large bowl until combined.
Place powdered sugar in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoons cider reduction to powdered sugar and whisk to form smooth icing. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
Set aside 3 tablespoons of the remaining cider reduction. You will use this later to brush on the baked cake.
Pour remaining 1/4 cup cider reduction into large bowl; add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour cider mixture over flour mixture and stir with rubber spatula until almost fully combined (some streaks of flour will remain). Stir in apples and any accumulated juice until evenly distributed.
Transfer mixture to prepared pan(s) and smooth top. Bake until skewer inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 40-45 minutes. (mine took closer to 50 minutes)
Transfer pan to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush exposed surface of cake lightly with 1 tablespoon reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack and remove pan. Brush top and sides of cake with remaining 2 tablespoons reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 20 minutes. Stir icing to loosen, and then drizzle evenly over cake. Let cake cool completely, at least 2 hours, before serving.