Y’all my spiced apple cider cake recipe is a fall dream come true. It’s moist, tender, and packed with apple cider and warm spices. Then I get super sassy frost the whole thing with an addictively creamy maple brown butter frosting. Fall baking has never tasted so good!
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It’s apple season y’all so I gotta get this Spiced Cider Apple Cake recipe made in your kitchen. It adds layers of sweetness, spice and creaminess with the addition of brown butter frosting. Made with butter, brown sugar, apple cider and some additional spices, this cake is beautifully balanced while also celebrating the best of Fall flavors. This is truly a recipe you will find yourself coming back each Autumn!
The Lowdown of This Apple Cider Cake Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: American Comfort
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Can be made gluten-free with ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Warm, spiced, and sweetly apple with hints of nutty brown butter
Skill Level: Intermediate (Pull out those frosting skillz)
Fall Vibes In Each Bite
Apple cider and warm spices give this cake major autumn vibes. You won’t get enough of this boos.
Moist and Beyond Fluffy
Thanks to the apple cider, this spiced cider cake stays super tender and soft even days later. The fluff is on point in each bite. Nothing dry around these parts.
Brown Butter Frosting on Point!
This frosting is creamy, maple-y, and beyond addictive. Cream cheese and the nutty goodness of brown butter are a match made in heaven. The hint of maple takes it over the top.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Apple Cider Cake
- Butter and Oil: Butter brings the rich flavor and oil brings the moisture boos.
- Sugars: I use a combo of light brown sugar and granulated sugar to produce a perfectly sweet cake base.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds aromatic warmth.
- Eggs: They give our cake structure.
- Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt help build the best foundation for our cake.
- Spices: The combo of cinnamon and allspice give that perfect fall spice to this cake.
- Apple Cider & Milk: Apple cider adds a sweet, tart bite giving all those fall vibes and the milk keeps the texture tender.
- Brown Butter: Unsalted butter browned to nutty perfection is the base of this dreamy frosting.
- Cream Cheese: This gives the frosting that rich, tangy flavor.
- Confectioner’s Sugar & Salt: Confectioner’s sugar sweetens things up, while a bit of salt balances it all.
- Maple Extract: Just a little adds a nice deep maple flavor complementing the brown butter and bring those fall vibes together.
How To Make Apple Cider Cake
1. Kick things off by cranking your oven up to a toasty 350°F. Grab three 8-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and give the sides a good spritz with non-stick baking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, throw in your butter, both kinds of sugar, oil, and a splash of vanilla extract. Crank that mixer up to medium-high and let it do its dance for about 4-5 minutes, until everything is light, fluffy, and friends with each other.
3. Time for the eggs to join the party! Toss them in one at a time, giving a good mix after each. Don’t forget to scrape the sides down and make sure nobody’s left out.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. It’s the dry gang!
5. Dial down your mixer to its slowest groove and gradually welcome the dry ingredients to the batter. It’s a gentle dance.
6. Now, pour in the apple cider and milk, and let it mix on low until everything is silky smooth and just combined.
7. Evenly divide that batter into your prepared cake pans and pop them in the oven for a 22-25 minute bake, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
8. Let the cakes chill for 10 minutes in the pans, then flip them out onto cooling racks and let them cool all the way down to room temperature.
9.Once cool, frost them with your brown butter American frosting, and voilà – you’ve got yourself an Apple Cider Cake that’s ready to steal the show!
How to Make Brown Butter Frosting
Lastly, let’s talk about that brown butter frosting. By browning the butter, you create a lovely nutty, caramel like tone that adds a new dimension.
The butter, cream cheese and heavy cream make for a fluffy, light and creamy buttercream you could eat by the spoonful. Does it get any better than that?
How to Serve Cider Cake
- Dollop it Up: Add a lovely dollop of homemade whipped cream with each slice.
- Cake and Ice Cream: Add scoops of this classic vanilla ice cream recipe or go with more fall vibes with apple pie ice cream.
- Autumn Fall Brunch: Whip up these apple pancakes or apple crisp french toast along with some candied bacon and end with this delish apple cider cake.
- Fall Southern Sunday Supper: Make some delish beef tips, cheese grits, Southern green beans and sweet potato biscuits. This cake will be right at home as a dessert.
Recipe Substitutions
- Unsalted Butter: You can grab some salted butter and use instead. Just leave out the salt in the recipe.
- Brown Sugar: If you only have granulated sugar, learn how to make brown sugar by adding some molasses.
- Cinnamon and Allspice: Replace this with nutmeg and ginger or use an apple pie spice blend to keep things no-fuss.
- Confectioner’s Sugar: Make homemade powdered sugar if you don’t have any around. Just grab some granulated and a mixer and get going.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Add Caramel: Add this easy caramel sauce in between layers and drizzle over the top. You can even swap out the frosting and use caramel frosting instead.
- Get Nutty: Add some chopped and toasted pecans to the batter for a little bit of crunch.
- Add Apple Butter: Sandwich the layers with a spread of apple butter.
- Booze It Up: Just a couple of tablespoons of bourbon in the batter or even brushed on top of the cake layers will add an adult twist.
Expert Tips and Tricks to Make Apple Cider Cake Recipe
- Concentrate the Apple Cider: If you wanna up the cider flavor even more, reduce it on stovetop to intensify it.
- Go Room Temp: Bring those eggs, butter, milk and apple cider to room temperature before you mix your cake batter. It will make everything much smoother.
- Don’t Overmix: When you add your dry ingredients, don’t overdo it. It can activate the gluten too much and make the cake tough in the end. That’s a no go boos.
- Flex Those Frosting Skillz: Here is one of my fave tricks. When you are ready to frost your cake, slap a dollop of frosting on the cake stand before placing the first layer. It anchors your cake in place, so it doesn’t slide around while you work.
How to Store Spiced Cider Cake
Room Temperature: If you plan on enjoying right away within a day, a cake stand with a cover or a large airtight container will do the trick. Keep it on your counter away from direct sunlight.
Refrigerate: If you need to store longer, pop in the fridge. It will last up to five days. Make sure it’s covered tightly with plastic wrap or kept in an airtight container.
Freeze for the Future: Place individual slices on a baking sheet to freeze initially, and then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. When you’re ready to indulge, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bring it to room temp before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely boos. In fact, you can make this cake the day before and store in a cake carrier before you serve it up.
If your brown butter frosting seems too thin, pop it in the fridge to let it stiffen more before frosting the cake. If it still feels thin, add a bit more powdered sugar to stiffen it even more.
I love to use the classic toothpick trick. Just insert the toothpick into the center of the cake and if it comes out with just a few moist crumbs, it’s all good boos.
Other Fall Baking Recipes to Try
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake recipe
- Apple Fritters
- Baked Crumble Apples
- Caramel Buttercream
- Butterscotch Apple Bars
Spiced Cider Apple Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
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Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 3/4 cup apple cider room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk room temperature
For the Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 16 oz cream cheese somewhat softened but still a bit stiff
- 4 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp maple extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper on the bottom and prepare the sides with a non stick baking spray.
- Add the butter, both sugars, oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl on medium high speed and mix together about 4-5 minutes until light, fluffy and well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
- While cake continues to mix, add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice to a bowl and whisk together to combine.
- Slow mixer down to lowest speed and slowly add dry ingredients to batter.
- Next pour in apple cider and milk and mix on low speed until silky batter is just combined.
- Once ready, carefully divide batter into three cake pans making sure they are even. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes then flip to remove from pan onto cooling racks. Allow cake layers to come to room temperature.
For the Frosting
- In a medium sized light colored pan, melt butter over medium heat and occasionally stir.
- Allow butter to brown until tiny brown specks appear and a nutty aroma develops (this is after about 6 or 7 minutes following a foaming period). Once butter has browned, remove from heat, and immediately pour into a heat-proof bowl. Refrigerate until solid.
- Once butter is solid, add butter and cream cheese to bowl of your mixer and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Next turn the mixer down to low and slowly add confectioner’s sugar and salt in small portions until all is added then turn the speed to medium high to combine.
- Lastly add maple extract and mix until nice and fluffy.
- Frost completely cooled cake layers and serve.
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Making this for Thanksgiving! Would you alter the recipe above if using 2 9-inch cake pans instead of 3 8-inch cake pans?
Cannot wait to give it a try!
You will need to bake considerably longer. I would actually suggest baking in 3 9 inch pans instead.
Hello- is is possible to use maple syrup instead of the maple extra?
Yes absolutely!
I would like to use this recipe for my wedding cake. I plan to make it with 2 10 inch cakes for the bottom and 2 8 inch cakes for the top. Each of the four cakes I planned to slice with my leveler and then frost each layer. Do you think this cake recipe will hold up to those layers? I’ll be using dowels to stabilize each one. I just wanted to make sure the cake was sturdy enough.
Yes the cake is pretty sturdy.
Hi! Is it ok to make the cakes the night before and put them in the refrigerator overnight? Making this for thanksgiving and like to prep whatever I can in advance when possible. Thank you! Love everything you post and make!
I wouldn’t put them in the fridge actually since that dries cakes out. I would wrap them well and either freeze or store room temperature and then frost the next day.
I don’t even know where to begin. This was the BEST spice cake I’ve ever had. Everything was perfectly proportionate and not one flavor overwhelmed another. It was so balanced and moist and fluffy. This will be going on our dessert table for thanksgiving this year. Also, dog approved who got on the counter and ate a quarter of the cake before I found her.
Can you make cupcakes with this recipe? What should my baking time be?
Yes you can definitely make cupcakes for this. I would start checking my bake on the cupcakes around 13 to 14 minutes and judge from there.
I baked this cake for my grandmothers 90th birthday party this past weekend and a gentleman came up to me and told me that this cake instantly made him think of his momma and brought him back to his childhood. I couldn’t imagine a greater compliment than that so I had to share it with compliment with you!
Can you substitute for buttermilk for the milk?
Unfortunately you cannot since the acid in the buttermilk will affect the ratios of the leavening in the recipe.
Thank you for sharing all your wonderfully delicious recipes. Made the Spiced Cider Apple Cake with Brown Butter frosting. You even had a recipe for making brown sugar which I thought I was out of but found. Only had 2 – 9inch cake pans but it still came out fabulous.
Jocelyn, I love your website and I dearly love your recipes!! Thank you!!!