My Recipe Reviews

Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!

apple cake

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake (A Lighter Recipe)

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Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

The air is cooling just slightly and that means it’s time to pull out the Fall recipes and get ready for that wonderful baking spice aroma throughout your house.

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake will give you that cozy Fall feeling with its warm spices. Get the best honey you can because that honey flavor really comes through in the cake and the terrific buttery, gooey topping.

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

This is a lighter cake because it doesn’t have oil or butter in the cake part – it uses chunky applesauce instead. It also uses brown sugar vs. white sugar. There’s a little butter in the topping, but you need that to help make it gooey and carmely.

So, you throw all of the ingredients together and pour it into the baking dish. Then you make that wonderful topping with butter, brown sugar, honey, and chopped salted almonds and pour it over the top of the cake.

Make sure the almonds are roasted and salted for the best result. I happened across Albertson’s brand (‘Signature’) salted almonds and they’re very salty, in a good way, and perfect for this topping.

If you can’t find roasted almonds, toast them yourself in the oven for a few minutes. It’s worth it to get the best nutty flavor out of the almonds.

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

What you end up with is a lightly spicy, spongy honey cake with a gooey, chewy, crunchy honey-butter-almond icing. The addition of oatmeal adds a nice texture to the cake, too. But that topping is my favorite part!

Top it off with a little whipped topping (I used Lite topping), sprinkle with a little cinnamon if you want to, and enjoy. You’ve just made a fairly light, kind of healthy cake that’s also delicious. How often does that happen?

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

Be sure and pour the topping on while the cake is still warm. When it cools off, that buttery honey icing sticks to the cake and the almond crunch completes the whole cake-eating experience.

I guess you can tell I really like this Honey Oatmeal Apple Cake. I think you will too!

More Fall Cake Recipes You’ll Love!

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Spongy, lightly spicy apple-honey cake with a buttery, gooey, crunchy topping.

Ingredients

  • For the Cake:
  • 1 C quick-cooking oats
  • 1 C water
  • 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 C packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 C chunky applesauce
  • 1/3 C honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • For the Topping:
  • 1/4 C butter
  • 1/3 C packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 C honey
  • 1/2 C coarsely chopped salted, roasted almonds
  • Final Topping:
  • Lite whipped topping
  • ground cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly spray an 11x7" baking dish.
  2. For the cake: in a small bowl, stir the oats and water together. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a stand mixer bowl, combine the brown sugar, applesauce, honey and eggs. Beat on high speed for one minute. Pour in the oats mixture and beat on low until well blended.
  5. With the mixer still on low, add half of the flour mixture and beat well. Add the remaining mixture and mix until just combined.
  6. Remove the bowl from the stand and stir the batter to make sure flour from the bottom of the bowl is mixed in.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few clinging pieces of cake. Remove baking dish and cool on a rack. Set the oven to Broil.
  8. A few minutes before removing the cake from the oven, start cooking the topping. In a heavy-bottom pan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and honey. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes, until bubbling. Stir in the coarsely-chopped almonds.
  9. When the cake is removed from the oven, pour the topping evenly over the cake. Place the cake under the broiler for about 45 seconds to 1 minute, until the top is bubbling (watch carefully). Remove from the oven and cool the cake completely on a wire rack.
  10. Serve cooled cake with a dollop of whipped topping and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon if desired.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

If you can't find chunky applesauce, use regular applesauce.  It'll be fine.

Check the cake at 35 minutes to see how your oven is baking it.  Mine was done in 42 minutes.  Don't over bake it. 

Best served the first day.  If you want to 'freshen' it up, put it under the broiler for 45 seconds to get that topping gooey again.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 281Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 254mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 2gSugar: 39gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Adapted from Cooking Light - April 2008
Category: Cakes

Apple Sharlotka Cake (The Cake Slice Bakers)

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Apple Sharlotka Cake

We’re winding down the year of baking from The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. It’s been an interesting experience with a few successes and a few not so successful.

This Apple Sharlotka Cake is described by Tatyana as “a delicious combination of an apple cake and Ukrainian cheesecake.” She had me when I saw the word ‘cheesecake.’ It has cottage cheese in it, which I assume is the cheesecakey part.

I ate two slices of the cake before I decided that I like it. It has a great texture – soft and spongy, and is very, very moist and a little dense at the same time.

Apple Sharlotka Cake

It’s not real sweet and the cottage cheese doesn’t really give it a cheesecakey texture. In fact since large curd cottage cheese is used, there are chunks of it throughout the cake. Different and not altogether unpleasant.

The only problem I had making this cake was when I tested the doneness with a piece of long spaghetti instead of a toothpick (it’s a fairly tall cake). Half of the spaghetti promptly broke off because the cake is so thick and I had to warn my husband there might be a surprise in one of his slices..

Apple Sharlotka

I added a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon because I knew it would need it and it did. Next time I’ll add a whole teaspoon and highly recommend that.

This Apple Sharlotka Cake is a simple-tasting cake with little chunks of apple throughout and a very good flavor. Not what you would make for a “wow” cake, but what you would make for a brunch or to snack on with tea or coffee. Tatyana says she prefers it warmed before serving, but I prefer it room temperature or right out of the refrigerator.

Apple Sharlotka

Apple Sharlotka Cake

Yield: 8-9 slices
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Soft, very moist simple cake. Would be good for a brunch or with coffee or tea.

Ingredients

  • 16 oz large-curd cottage cheese
  • 1/2 C butter, softened
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 C milk
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 apples, peeled and diced
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • Powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 335°. Line the bottom of an 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
  2. Wring the cottage cheese in cheesecloth, discarding the liquid. Set aside.
  3. Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, then the eggs - one at a time until well combined. (The batter may look a bit curdled at this point - that's OK). Turn the mixer on very low and pour the milk into the bowl and mix for 30 seconds or so until blended in.
  4. In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together. Pour the flour mixture through a sifter and into the batter - mix just until the dry ingredients are combined (don't over mix - you don't want a tough cake).
  5. In a separate bowl, toss the apples with the cornstarch, then set aside about 1/2 cup of apple mixture for later. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand and fold the rest of the apples into the batter with a large spoon or spatula.
  6. Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan and sprinkle the 1/2 cup of apples evenly across the top of the batter. Press them down gently into the batter with your fingers.
  7. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, checking at 1 hour. Bake until the top is set and golden brown. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack or serve while slightly warm and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
  8. Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The original recipe calls for an 8" springform pan, but there's no way all the batter will fit in it, so I used a 9" pan.  Use what you have and adjust the time accordingly (bigger pan, less time).

I patted as much liquid as I could from the cottage cheese using a paper towel since I don't have cheesecloth.  

Don't worry if the batter looks slightly curdled before and after you add the milk.  It will smooth out when you mix in the sifted flour mixture.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 446Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 477mgCarbohydrates: 68gFiber: 2gSugar: 42gProtein: 10g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Tatyana Nesteruk
Category: Cakes
 
 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 

Our choices for September 2019 were ~

  1. Apple Sharlotka Cake
  2. Strawberry Verdens Beste
  3. Apricot Mousse Cake
  4. Italian Coconut Creme Cake

 Strawberry Verdens Beste


 Apricot Mousse Cake


 Italian Coconut Creme Cake

 
 

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake (#TheCakeSliceBakers)

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This is the last cake we’ll be baking in 2018 from The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen. And what a great cake cookbook it’s been! Our final selection from the book is our choice from any cake in the book and I chose the Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

I chose this cake because some of the other bakers in The Cake Slice Bakers had previously made it and it looked so, so good. And you know what? It is so very, very good.

That soft top is lightly soaked with the thick, candy-like glaze and when you invert the cake the top of the cake is now a moist and delicious bottom layer.

Here’s a photo of it right out of oven after it was glazed with the apple cider reduction:

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Bret thinks the cake tastes like an old-fashioned apple cake (a compliment, not a complaint), but I think the texture is more tender and not as heavy. I liken it more to an apple fritter cake in a way. Simply delicious.

Besides the great texture, the shredding of the apples is genius. You get tart apples in every bite and I like that better than the bigger apple chunks (although chopped apples work well in my Fresh Apple Cake with Maple Glaze).

The apples along with the lightly spicy, tender cake make for a great cake. And that final apple cider glaze tops it off perfectly. I made about twice as much glaze because it completes the look and the deliciousness of the cake.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

America’s Test Kitchen’s Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake is one of those cakes that I’ll make over and over, for pot lucks, special occasions, holidays, and just at home to eat for dessert or with coffee at breakfast.

When you make it, make sure and let the cake cool about 45 minutes before putting the final glaze on (they say 30 minutes, but I say more, please) or the glaze will just soak into the cake and not look as pretty.

Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Cider-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Tender, lightly spicy apple cake soaked with an apple reduction and topped off with a sweet glaze. Perfection,

Ingredients

  • 4 1/4 C. Apple Cider
  • 3 3/4 C  (18 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 3/4 C (3 oz) powdered sugar
  • 16 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 C packed (10 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 lb Granny Smith apples, peeled and shredded (about 3 cups)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 12-cup nonstick bundt pan with baking spray with flour (if not using baking spray with flour, spray with regular baking spray and lightly flour the pan.)
  2. In a medium heavy-bottom pan, bring the cider to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to about 1 cup (20-25 minutes).
  3. While cider is reducing, in a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice together. Place the powdered sugar into a separate small bowl.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons of the cider reduction to the powdered sugar bowl and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Set aside another 6 tablespoons of the cider reduction in a cup (for pouring over the baked cake, yum).
  5. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of cider reduction into a medium bowl; add the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour this cider/butter mixture over the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until almost fully combined (don't worry if streaks of flour remain - you don't want to over-stir it or it won't be as tender). Stir in the apples and any juice they may have created until combined throughout the batter.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake until a skewer (or piece of spaghetti) comes out clean with just a very few crumbs on it, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Rotate the pan half-way through baking.
  7. Transfer the baked cake to a wire rack that's sitting on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drippings). Brush the exposed surface of the cake lightly with 1 tablespoon of the reserved cider reduction. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then invert it onto the wire rack.
  8. Remove the pan and brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cider reduction. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes.
  9. Stir the powdered sugar glaze, then drizzle over the cake. Let the cake cool completely (about 2 hours) before stirring. The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Stir the batter gently so the cake won't be tough.

I doubled the glaze for a prettier finished cake (and it's good).

Make sure the cake is fairly cooled before glazing or the glaze will soak into the cake.

The original recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I use regular salted butter. Your choice.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 457Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 555mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 3gSugar: 36gProtein: 6g
© America's Test Kitchen
Category: Cakes

Hilda’s Apple Cake

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Hilda's Apple Cake

It’s still a little warm to crank up the oven, but Hilda’s Apple Cake is definitely worth the sweat. This cake is different – cinnamon-sugar and butter coat the thinly sliced apples on the bottom and then there’s an upper layer of fluffy cake. It’s almost an apple cobbler, but wait – it’s a cake!

I think apples will be my fruit of choice to cook with this Fall.  There are so many great varieties and they’re so good for you.  Be sure and choose a firm, rather tart apple for this recipe like Granny Smith or Fuji.

Apple Cake

It was hard to wait till the cake was cool enough to eat. You can smell that vanilla and cinnamon all over the house and it’s just begging to be eaten.

We’ve been enjoying Hilda’s Apple Cake (whoever Hilda is). It’s not overwhelmingly sweet and with the baked apples and tender cake separated into layers, it’s really a unique cake. Thanks Hilda!

Apple Cake

This is another recipe from Richard Sax’s book Classic Home Desserts and you’ll probably see a few more pop up here before the end of the year.

A lot of the recipes are excellent home-style comfort desserts, but there are a few that look challenging and I may need to make them. And eat them. Oh, and maybe share.

Hilda's Apple Cake

Hilda's Apple Cake

Yield: 12 - 15
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Soft, fluffy cake on the top, cinnamon apples on the bottom.  Good cake with coffee or warmed up with a dollop of whipped cream. 

Ingredients

  • Apples
  • 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 lb (about 4 large tart apples, such as Granny Smith or Fuji, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (4 cups)
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Batter
  • 1/4 C (1/2 stick) butter, softened
  • 3/4 C plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 C milk
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Butter an 11x7' Pyrex baking dish (or 9" square cake pan).  
  2. For the Apples:  Place the sliced apples in a medium bowl.  Drizzle with the melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.  Toss the apples until they're all coated.  Pour into the prepared dish and spread them out evenly.
  3. For the Batter:  In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and 3/4 cup of the sugar together on medium-high until light.  Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla.  Sift the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl, then add 1/2 of it into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.  Beat until just combined.
  4. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they form stiff, but not dry, peaks.  Fold 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the batter until blended, then add the rest and gently fold.
  5. Pour the batter over the apples and gently spread out without deflating the batter.  Combine the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon in a small cup and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the batter.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil so the top won't burn, then bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer.  
  7. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or your favorite ice cream.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I sliced the apples very thinly.  Next time I'll slice them a little thicker - about a quarter inch instead of an eighth inch thick.  

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 pieces
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 101Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 82mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 2g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Richard Sax, Classic Home Desserts
Category: Cakes

Apple Upside-Down Cake

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I’ve always wanted to make a pineapple upside-down cake, but I just received Cook’s Illustrated Baking cookbook and found a good-looking Apple Upside-Down Cake instead.

Cook’s Illustrated (which is under the same umbrella as America’s Test Kitchen) has a stringent creation and testing routine and
every recipe I’ve tried from them has turned out terrific, including this one!

I made the cake exactly by the instructions, including room temperature eggs and whisking the cake by hand. The apples are two different sizes – cut in 1/2″ slices and 1/4″ slices – and half of them are sauteed to draw out some of the moisture so that the cake doesn’t get soggy.

The result was a tender, delicious cake topped with caramelized sliced apples. The juices from the apples sank down into the cake a little and made it very moist. *Adoring Sigh*

I didn’t layer my apples very pretty on this go around, but next time I’ll take the extra few minutes and layer them nicely. It really makes a nice impact when you present it and that gooey sauce is cascading down the sides of a beautifully decorated cake.

Bret loved this Apple Upside-Down Cake warmed up and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I liked it both warm and room temperature.

I’m so excited to have found this great apple cake recipe! It will go into the make-again recipe file and be made often.

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Yield: 8 - 10 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Outstanding tender cake topped with juicy, caramelized apple. 

Ingredients

  • Topping
  • 2 lbs Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 2/3 C light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • Cake
  • 1 C (5 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 C (5 1/4 oz) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 C (1 3/4 oz) light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Grease a 9" round nonstick cake pan, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour entire pan.  Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 °.
  2. For the topping:  Halve apples from stem to blossom end.  Cut 2 apples into 1/4" thick slices; set aside.  Cut remaining 2 apples into 1/2" thick slices.  Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1/2" thick apple slices and cook, stirring 2 or 3 times, until apples begin to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes (do not fully cook apples).  Add 1/4" thick apple slices, brown sugar, and lemon juice and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and apples are coated, about 1 minute longer.  Transfer apple mixture to prepared pan and lightly press into even layer.  Set aside.
  3. For the cake:  Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.  Set aside.  Whisk granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs together in large bowl until thick and thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.  Slowly whisk in melted butter until combined.  
  4. Add sour cream and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.  Pour batter into pan and spread evenly over fruit. Bake the cake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes (check at 35 minutes), rotating pan halfway through baking.
  5. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes.  Run thin knife around sides of cake to loosen.  Place wire rack over pan and, holding rack tightly, invert cake pan and wire rack together.  Lift off pan.  
  6. Place wire rack with cake over baking sheet or large plate to catch any drips.  If any fruit sticks to pan bottom, remove and reposition it on top of cake.  Let cake cool completely, about 20 minutes, then transfer to serving  platter and serve.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I used the weights for the ingredients that called for it because I have a really good little scale. The volume is a little different, but if you don't have a scale, it'll still work.

I used salted butter and decreased the salt by a pinch.

When you pick up the pan to put into the oven, remember the apple mixture is still very warm so use a pot holder or cloth to put the cake in.

Mine took the entire 45 minutes to bake.

Refrigerate leftovers if you have any.

Enjoy this wonderful cake!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 412Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 260mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 4gSugar: 35gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Cook's Illustrated Baking Book
Category: Cakes