Irresistibly Moist Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake with Buttery Streusel & Bourbon Glaze
Step into a world of cozy fall flavors with this truly irresistible Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake. This recipe is a delightful celebration of autumn, featuring a wonderfully moist cake crumb that’s generously spiced with warming cinnamon and aromatic cloves. The deep caramel sweetness from dark brown sugar infuses every bite, creating a rich and comforting base. What truly sets this cake apart is its incredible topping: a perfectly buttery, crumbly streusel, complemented by a delicate, lightly spiked bourbon vanilla glaze. Forget fussy frostings – this combination of textures and flavors is pure perfection! It’s an ideal dessert for any occasion, from casual family gatherings to elegant holiday celebrations, and surprisingly simple to prepare.
Why You’ll Fall in Love with This Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake
There are countless reasons why this Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake will quickly become a cherished recipe in your baking repertoire. Beyond its stunning appearance, the cake offers a symphony of flavors and textures that evoke comfort and warmth. The tender, moist crumb, rich with brown sugar and a blend of spices, perfectly cradles tender chunks of apple. But the real showstopper is the dynamic duo on top: a golden, crunchy streusel provides a delightful contrast to the soft cake, while the subtly boozy bourbon vanilla glaze adds an extra layer of sophisticated sweetness and aroma. It’s a versatile dessert, equally suited for a cozy evening at home with a cup of tea or as the star of a festive holiday table. This recipe proves that you don’t need complicated techniques to create a truly memorable and delicious homemade cake.
Moreover, its sheet cake format makes it incredibly convenient. A 9×13-inch pan yields plenty of servings, making it perfect for feeding a crowd without the hassle of stacking or decorating layers. It’s robust enough for transport, making it an excellent choice for potlucks or gifting. The combination of classic apple pie flavors in an easy-to-slice cake form, complete with its own built-in topping, ensures that this dessert is not only a treat to eat but also a joy to bake and share.
Crafting Your Delicious Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake: A Step-by-Step Guide
Creating this delightful Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake is a straightforward process, broken down into simple, manageable steps. Following these instructions carefully will ensure you achieve a moist, flavorful cake with that irresistible streusel topping and delicate glaze. Make sure all your ingredients, especially butter and eggs, are at room temperature for the best results!
1. Cream the Sugar and Butter Together: Achieving Lightness and Volume
Begin by adding the room-temperature unsalted butter and dark brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. This step is crucial for the cake’s texture. Beat these two ingredients together on medium-high speed for approximately 3-4 minutes. You’ll notice the mixture transforming, becoming significantly fluffier, lighter in color, and almost tripling in volume. This aeration process incorporates air into the batter, which contributes to the cake’s light and tender crumb.
2. Incorporate Eggs, Vanilla, and Apple Butter: Building Flavor and Moisture
After creaming the butter and sugar, take a moment to scrape down the sides of the stand mixer bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is thoroughly combined. Next, add your large eggs, one at a time. It’s vital to allow each egg to be fully incorporated into the batter before adding the next. This prevents the mixture from separating and ensures there are no unmixed eggy-bits in your finished cake, leading to a smooth, uniform texture. Once the eggs are mixed in, add the vanilla extract and apple butter, then mix again until just combined. The apple butter not only boosts the apple flavor but also adds wonderful moisture to the cake.
3. Mix Dry Ingredients Together: Preparing for a Balanced Batter
In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine all your dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Whisk them together thoroughly. This ensures that the leavening agents and spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour, preventing pockets of unmixed ingredients in the final cake. Proper measurement of flour is also key here; spoon and level it into your measuring cup rather than scooping directly from the bag to avoid a dense cake.
4. Alternating Dry Ingredients and Buttermilk: Maintaining a Tender Crumb
Now, it’s time to integrate the dry ingredients and buttermilk into your wet mixture. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed after each addition until just combined. Overmixing at this stage can develop the gluten in the flour too much, resulting in a tough cake. The buttermilk adds a slight tang and reacts with the baking soda to create a beautifully tender and moist crumb.
5. Fold in Apples: Gentle Incorporation for Even Distribution
Once your batter is well combined, gently fold in the chopped apples using a spatula. You want to distribute them evenly throughout the batter without mashing them or overmixing. The goal is to have delightful pockets of soft apple in every slice of cake. Be gentle to maintain their structure as much as possible.
6. Prepare for Baking: Pan, Streusel, and Oven Time
Pour the finished cake batter into a prepared 9×13-inch cake pan. Ensure the pan is greased and floured, or lined with parchment paper, to prevent sticking. Evenly spread the batter, then generously sprinkle the buttery streusel topping over the entire surface of the Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake. Place the pan into a preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Once baked, allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before proceeding with the glaze. Glazing a warm cake will cause the glaze to melt and soak in rather than forming a nice, opaque layer.
Unveiling the Magic of Streusel: The Perfect Cake Topping
A streusel topping is a beloved pastry enhancement, renowned for its delightful crunch and buttery sweetness. At its heart, a classic streusel is a simple yet incredibly effective mixture made primarily from sugar, flour, and butter. While these three ingredients form the essential base, other spices, such as cinnamon (which is absolutely essential for this Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake!), are frequently added to deepen and enhance the flavor profile. The beauty of streusel lies in its texture: it’s perfectly crumbly, slightly crunchy, and imbued with a rich, sweet butteriness that elevates any baked good it graces. If you’ve yet to experience the joy of a cake topped with streusel, prepare yourself for an absolute treat!
I often find myself preferring streusel toppings over traditional frostings. They offer just the right amount of sweetness, providing a delicate complement to the cake without being overly rich or heavy. For this Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake, the streusel adds a fantastic textural contrast and an extra layer of flavor that perfectly harmonizes with the spiced apple cake beneath. It truly takes the cake from good to extraordinary, giving it that comforting, homemade appeal.
Making the Streusel for This Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake
Whipping up the streusel for this recipe is genuinely a piece of cake – it’s incredibly quick and easy! Simply combine all the dry ingredients – flour, white sugar, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon – in a medium-sized bowl and whisk them together until they are well blended. Then, pour the melted unsalted butter over the dry mixture. Using a fork, mix everything together thoroughly until the mixture comes together and resembles wet sand. This simple method ensures a consistent and wonderfully crumbly streusel every time. Once prepared, set it aside until your cake batter is ready for baking. No special equipment needed, just a bowl and a fork!
The Alluring Bourbon Vanilla Glaze: A Hint of Sophistication
As you might have gathered by now, I have a particular fondness for incorporating bourbon into a variety of dishes, especially desserts! Adding spirits like bourbon to food, particularly in a delicate glaze such as this one, imparts an extraordinary depth of flavor and a nuanced dimension that can truly elevate your creation. Bourbon, being an oak-aged spirit, boasts a distinctively sweet flavor profile, often characterized by warm notes of vanilla, oak, and rich caramel. These naturally warm and cozy flavors are absolutely perfect for pairing with a dessert like this Apple Cinnamon Sheet Cake, enhancing its inherent spiciness and fruitiness.
The bourbon in this glaze doesn’t just add a boozy kick; it provides a subtle aromatic complexity that intertwines beautifully with the cinnamon and apple. It transforms a simple vanilla glaze into something truly special and memorable. However, if bourbon isn’t readily available, or if you prefer a different flavor, feel free to substitute it with another whisky that shares similar sweet and warm characteristics. Alternatively, for a completely non-alcoholic version, you can simply omit the bourbon and increase the vanilla extract or add a tiny splash of milk or apple juice to reach the desired consistency. The choice is yours, but I highly recommend trying it with bourbon for that extra layer of deliciousness!
My personal favorite Bourbon for both baking and sipping is Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Its balanced flavor profile makes it an excellent choice for this glaze.
Choosing the Perfect Apples for Your Spice Cake
Selecting the right kind of apples for baking can often feel a bit overwhelming, given the vast array of varieties available. However, it’s an incredibly crucial decision that profoundly impacts the final taste and texture of your baked goods. Apples come in a wide spectrum of flavors and sweetness levels, ranging from intensely tart and sour to remarkably sweet and mild. Just as important as flavor is how an apple holds up during the baking process. Some varieties maintain their shape and integrity beautifully, providing delightful chunks of fruit in your cake, while others tend to break down and almost disintegrate, becoming more like applesauce.
For a recipe like this Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake, you’re looking for a specific combination of characteristics. You want an apple that offers a balanced sweet-tart flavor profile – something that provides a pleasant tang to cut through the sweetness of the cake, but isn’t overly sour. Equally important, you need an apple that holds its shape well when baked. This ensures that each slice of your cake features distinct, tender pieces of apple rather than a mushy texture. My top recommendations for this particular recipe are Pink Lady, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp apples. These varieties strike the perfect balance between flavor, firmness, and sweetness, guaranteeing a truly exceptional Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake every time.
Avoid apples that are too soft or become mushy when baked, such as Red Delicious or McIntosh, as they will not provide the desired texture. Conversely, extremely tart apples like Granny Smith can be used, but you might want to balance them with a sweeter apple or adjust the sugar in the recipe slightly. Ultimately, a good baking apple will contribute both structure and vibrant flavor, enhancing the overall experience of your spiced apple cake.
Tips for a Perfectly Moist and Flavorful Spiced Apple Cake
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Always ensure your butter, eggs, and buttermilk are at room temperature. This allows them to emulsify properly, creating a smoother batter and a finer crumb.
- Don’t Overmix: After adding the flour, mix only until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten, which can lead to a tough, dry cake.
- Proper Flour Measurement: Use the spoon and level method for measuring flour (spoon flour into the measuring cup, then level off with a straight edge) or, even better, weigh it. This prevents adding too much flour, which is a common cause of dense cakes.
- Cool Completely Before Glazing: Patience is key! Glazing a warm cake will cause the glaze to melt into the cake rather than forming a beautiful, opaque layer on top.
- Spice Adjustment: Feel free to adjust the amount of cinnamon and cloves to your personal preference. A pinch of nutmeg or allspice could also be a lovely addition for even more warmth.
Serving and Storage Suggestions
This Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake is incredibly versatile and makes a fantastic dessert for almost any occasion. Serve it slightly warm or at room temperature. It’s delightful on its own, but also pairs wonderfully with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, a dollop of freshly whipped cream, or a warm cup of coffee or tea. It even makes a decadent breakfast or brunch item!
To store, cover the cake tightly with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. For longer storage, the cake can be frozen. Wrap individual slices or the whole cake (if unglazed) tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving or glazing.
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Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake with Streusel Topping
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Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 2/3 cup White Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- Pinch of Salt
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter,, melted
Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake
- 1½ cups Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature
- 1½ cups Brown Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1/4 cup Apple Butter
- 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour,, measured correctly †
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Cloves
- 3/4 cup Full-Fat Buttermilk
- 1 Sweet-Tart Apple,, such as Braeburn or Pink Lady, peeled and cut into ½” cubes
Vanilla Bourbon Glaze
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
- 2 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1 tbsp Bourbon
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
Equipment
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Stand mixer
Instructions
Streusel Topping
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In a medium mixing bowl, add sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine well.
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Pour the melted butter into the dry mixture and mix with a fork until well combined, and the mixture resembles sand. Set aside for later.
Apple Cinnamon Spice Sheet Cake
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9×13” cake pan with cooking spray and parchment.
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In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy looking, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl. Next, add vanilla and apple butter, beat until combined.
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In a separate medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Whisk together to combine.
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Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the stand mixer, mix on low until combined. Add ½ of the buttermilk and mix on low until combined. Continue alternating the flour and the buttermilk, until both have been completely added (finishing with the flour mixture). Then, fold in the apple pieces.
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Add the batter to the cake pan, evenly sprinkle streusel topping over the top, and place the cake into the oven to bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing.
Vanilla Bourbon Glaze
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Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk together to combine, then drizzle over the cooled cake.