Updated: September 2020
I zeroed in on the Maple Layer Cake from The Perfect Cake for The Cake Slice Bakers's choice this month.
There were three other great choices: Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake, and Pear-Walnut Upside Down Cake, but I just love anything maple!
cThe second time I made this cake, I doctored ATK's (America's Test Kitchen) recipe a little because I wanted more maple flavor.
The end result - a fantastic maple cake with maple cream cheese frosting.
You whisk the batter ingredients together by hand and it's unbelievably quick to come together. ATK provided a maple cream cheese frosting for the cake, but I wasn't very impressed. The frosting isn't sweet at all to me and has no maple flavor whatsoever.
I love cream cheese on bagels but unless sweetened, it isn't so great on a cake! I ended up adding almost a half cup of powdered sugar and over a half teaspoon of really good maple flavoring to make it a nice creamy, still barely-sweet, maple-flavored frosting.
Since the frosting they offered wasn't up to par, on my second cake bake I used a different ATK cream cheese frosting from another recipe of theirs. I included it on the recipe card below instead of the original. It's great!
We're enjoying the cake with the new and improved frosting. The sponge of the cake is moist and so very soft.
It's kind of strange that after using 1 ¼ cups of maple syrup in the cake from the original recipe, it still had no maple flavoring. Maybe we don't get the best quality maple syrup in Texas - go figure.
Will I make this cake again? Yes, using the updated recipe. This Maple Layer Cake will be a nice addition to holiday tables and a definite must for pot luck get-togethers.
Looking for more great cake recipes?
-
- Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake (one of my favorites!)
- Amaretto Creme Cake
- Blum's Coffee Crunch Cake
Maple Layer Cake
Soft, tender maple layer cake with a tasty cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ C (10 oz) Cake Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¾ C plus 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 ¼ C Maple Syrup
- 3 large Eggs
- ½ tsp Maple Extract
- 3 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- For the Frosting:
- 1 ¼ lb Cream Cheese, softened
- 12 tablespoons Butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
- 2 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 ½ tsp Maple Extract
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 ½ C (10 oz) Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9" round cake pans, line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, then spray the parchment. Lightly flour both pans.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, maple syrup, eggs, maple extract, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are set and the center is firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
- Remove cakes to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans, peeling off the parchment paper, and let cool completely on the wire rack, about 1 hour.
- For the frosting: Using a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, softened butter, sour cream, maple extract, and salt on medium-high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. beat on medium until the sugar is fully incorporated and the frosting is smooth, about 4 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 4 more minutes. (Should yield about 5 cups)
- Place one layer of the cake on your cake platter. Spread 1 ½ cups of the frosting evenly over the top, right to the edge of the cake. Top with the second layer and press down lightly. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
Be sure and use cake flour for this cake. If you don't want to buy a whole box of cake flour, see if your local store (Central Market, Whole Foods, etc.) has bulk flours and just buy the amount you need.
I use salted butter in the frosting because that's what I have. I just use a pinch of salt in the frosting instead of the ¼ teaspoon it calls for to make up for the salted butter.
I stored the leftover cake in the refrigerator. Before serving the refrigerated cake, I set it out on the counter to get it back to room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 497Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 489mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 7g
Your cake layers look so moist and inviting! I love the little candies on top.
Thanks Kim!
Looks so perfect! Too bad the maple flavor was lacking...and frosting not very sweet or maple flavored. Looks like some maple extract is called for when making this cake. I love the beautiful texture of your layers!
Thanks, Elle!
So happy that your cake turned out moist. I agree that some maple flavoring added with the maple syrup would have upped the flavor ante. I love you chocolate candies on top also. I've already decided on my cake for next month and I'm looking forward to it.
We did enjoy it, Sandra. Seemed to get better after a couple of days in the refrigerator.
The cake layers baked up nicely! You can tell they were moist too! Glad you were able to salvage the frosting!
Thanks, Anabel. The more the cake sits, the better it's getting.
Wow! Gorgeous cake! Excellent feedback on the recipe too.
Thanks, Karen!
It was so hard to pick which cake to bake this month, but you certainly picked a winner. It looks fantastic. I've noted the the changes you think would improve it so that I can incorporate them when I bake this cake.
Thanks Felice. I was tempted to make the cheesecake since I'd never made a cheesecake before (!), but that maple was calling my name.