Old-Fashioned Apple Cake

A warmly-spiced cake with fresh apples baked into the batter topped with your choice of a cream cheese or brown sugar frosting. Cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg give the cake it's delicious dark coloring and along with the apples infuse the flavor of fall into every bite.

Ingredients

• 2 + 1/3 cups all-purpose or white whole wheat flour (like King Arthur)
• 1 + 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 + 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger and ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 4 cups peeled, cored, chopped apple (I used Fuji)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 + 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• Brown Butter Frosting:
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1.     Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
2.     In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer beat all the ingredients except the apples and nuts together on low speed. The dough will be dry and crumbly.
3.     Add the apples and nuts, beat on low speed until the apples release some of their juices and the batter comes together 3 - 4 minutes.
4.     Spoon into the pan and spread evenly with a wet spatula or your fingers.
5.     Bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center or with a few crumbs attached not wet batter.
6.     Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting or brown butter frosting.
7.     Make the cream cheese frosting:
8.     Beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the confectioner's sugar, and beat on medium 5 - 6 minutes until fluffy.

    Make the brown butter frosting:

1.     Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat and stir in the brown sugar and salt. Cook, stirring until the sugar melts then add the milk.
2.     Bring to a boil then remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Allow to cool 10 minutes.
3.     After ten minutes stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat well - if mixture seems too thin add more confectioners' sugar a little at a time until you reach a spreading consistency.
4.     Frost the cake immediately with the warm frosting.