Welp, once again I couldn't make a successful pie. It'll happen one day, that day is just not today.
But I'm here to share a fun, easy apple loaf cake that can still give you the same warm and fuzzy feelings pie can.
The best part about this cake is that if you leave the frosting off, it's basically a fruit-filled breakfast. And that's something we all need on Thanksgiving, right?
The other best part about this cake is that after testing two batches of the lemon maple cream cheese frosting, I decided we had enough to do on Thanksgiving and making homemade frosting didn't necessarily need to be on that list. So we're stirring some lemon zest and maple syrup into store-bought frosting and you can thank me later.
The other, other best part (sorry, I could do this all day) is that it's really just a tiny little loaf cake, so you'll definitely have room for any other desserts that hit the table (like..a pie, probably). As someone who cannot help but make more desserts than people in the room, this is a very good, wonderfully helpful thing.
I found the recipe for this cake here, and it's perfectly spiced and wonderful for this time of year. I made some tiny little adjustments (just replacing white sugar with brown because I like the flavor more), and I'm so excited to put this into my Thanksgiving dessert rotation.
Also, it should go without saying that apples are fruit. And fruit is good for you. So basically I'm giving you a healthy dessert. YEP.
Apple loaf cake with lemon maple cream cheese frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 2 cups grated apple, peeled and cored (I used honeycrisp apples)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 container cream cheese frosting
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x4 loaf pan.
- Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil and egg for 2 minutes.
- Add apples and mix to combine.
- Add flour mix and carefully stir to combine, making sure to not overmix - stop as soon as there are no more streaks.
- Pour in loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- While cake cools, stir together cream cheese frosting with lemon zest and maple syrup.
- Frost cooled cake.
Notes
I actually like a mix of texture with the apples, so I chop some of them and grate the rest. I definitely suggest using mostly grated because the moisture/juice they impart is important with this one.
You might not need to use all the frosting, but I always like having a little extra on hand anyway for people who do want extra frosting or maybe just want to eat it off a spoon (no shame).
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