Maple Cake

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!

The 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 1/4 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

Yield: 10-12 slices

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Soft, tender maple layer cake with a tasty cream cheese frosting.

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Ingredients

• 2 1/2 C (10 oz)   Cake Flour
• 2 tsp  Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp  Salt
• 3/4 C plus 2 tbsp  Vegetable Oil
• 1 1/4 C  Maple Syrup
• 3 large  Eggs
• 1/2 tsp  Maple Extract
• 3 1/2 tsp  Vanilla Extract
• For the Frosting:
• 1 1/4 lb   Cream Cheese, softened
• 12 tablespoons   Butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
• 2 tbsp  Sour Cream
• 1 1/2 tsp  Maple Extract
• 1/4 tsp  Salt
• 2 1/2 C (10 oz)  Powdered Sugar

Instructions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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)
6. Place one layer of the cake on your cake platter. Spread 1 1/2 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 1/4 tsp 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: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 497Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 126mgSodium: 489mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 7g