Gran’s Apple Cake
My grandmother occasionally brought over this wonderful cake warm from the oven. The spicy apple flavor combined with the sweet cream cheese frosting made this dessert a treasured recipe. Even though I've lightened it up, it's still a family favorite. —Lauris Conrad, Turlock, California
Ingredients
- 1-2/3 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups chopped peeled tart apples
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- FROSTING:
- 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
Reviews
Made this cake for Thanksgiving and it was great. Reduced sugar to 1 and1/2 cup still plenty sweet. Icing looked minimal but it was the right amount. Delicious keeper.
Very nice moist cake. Wonderful flavors. I added some raisins which added even more flavor. I agree that the icing isn’t enough for the whole cake. I baked my cake in two 8” X 8” square cake pans and ended up using all the icing from the recipe on one cake. My guests raved about the cake. I froze the other cake for a later date and will just make another batch of icing. Definitely a keeper.
Delicious, moist, very easy cake to make. Since my husband doesn’t like frosting, I made a streusel topping doe the cake and added it during the baking time. Wouldn’t change a thing and I used golden delicious since I had a bushel of them to work up. This is a keeper and will make again.
I prepared this cake to take to a meeting and it was a huge hit. I used 3 large Granny Smith apples to equal 6 cups and doubled the icing recipe per other reviews. It worked. No other changes. It has a subtle cinnamon flavor so if you want more, feel free to add more cinnamon. This is a delicious cake. Volunteer Field Editor
I cut the recipe in half and baked it in a 8” square baking dish. I did not cut the frosting in half because of the comments and I’m so glad I didn’t because it was just the right amount for half a cake. It is not overly sweet and complements the cake perfectly. I was worried the apples would come out underdone so I diced them very small. It was very delicious and a keeper. Will make this many more times I am sure. ????
I am happy to see a reduced fat version of this cake. Since you can substitute applesauce for vegetable oil in cakes, it seems logical you could substitute vegetable oil or butter back into the cake for anyone who wants closer to the original version. The reduced fat version tastes great! I made half of the cake in an 8 x 8 pan. I was using apples that I already had (Gala) so I added about a teaspoon of lemon juice for tartness. That worked well. One could easily substitute ice cream for whipped cream instead of the frosting.
No~~ my Gram also would be shocked about reduced fat in anything. However, Laauris noted above that she had lightened up the recipe to start with. Looks great so I will try it.
gramcayo,,, I agree with you. As I read the recipe, I thought, "My grandmother, never knew what reduced fat was"!
This is a very good cake however I have a few comments. First of all the time to prepare this cake is way longer than listed. It took me an hour. I think that the problem is that the time to cut up the apples wasn't included in prep time. Secondly, the frosting needs to be doubled. There wasn't anywhere near enough to cover a 9/13 cake. Everything else is great but I didn't appreciate the time preparation being wrong or so little frosting. I ended up doubling it and that was right.
Divine! I withheld nuts and instead toasted and sprinkled them on top of the icing on half of the cake to please the picky eaters in my family. I loved the toasted crunch. Also, I did not have enough white sugar and had to use half dark brown sugar, but the recipe was still delicious that way. The huge amount of apples is just right, and I thought the amount of icing suggested was a perfect accent without making the cake too sweet.