Apple Butter Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

OMG! Why did it take me six years to make this?!? This is one unbelievable cake!! It tastes like Fall in sugar form! There really aren't enough words to tell you how good this cake is! (I have writer's block trying to think about how to describe how incredible it tastes, so let me just write about the recipe because you will need to make this cake ASAP.)

This is a cold-oven pound cake. And by that, I mean you turn the oven on AFTER you put the pan in the oven.  It is an old technique that produces a tall cake with a nice crisp crust. I love the crispy bits, don't you? The one thing that I want to point out is the bake time; it will vary depending on how quickly your oven heats up. The pilot light in my gas oven is a little slow to start (because I use it so much), therefore it took my cake a bit longer than 80 minutes to bake. To keep the top from browning too much, I lightly covered it with a sheet of aluminum foil towards the end of the bake time. 

As far as the recipe, I really didn't change much to the cake, but I did to the glaze/frosting.  The original recipe called it a glaze, but I knew by looking at the magazine photo that it was more of a pourable frosting than a glaze.  So to achieve that, I made sure that the base of the frosting was completely cooled before I beat in the confectioners' sugar.  And let me tell you that I am super glad that I went for the pourable frosting.  Holy yum and cue the sugar rush! 

The cake and frosting is all you need, but if you feel like getting fancy, dress the top of the cake with some dried apple chips like I did. Just make sure you wait to garnish until you are going to serve the cake, otherwise the apple chips will soften and loose their crunch.

Now, please don't do what I did and wait six years to make this cake!  It is sooooo good!!

Printable Recipe

Apple Butter Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

serves 12-20

For the Cake

1 cup apple butter

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups (12-ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

5 extra large eggs, at room temperature

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the Frosting

1/2 cup (4-ounces) unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Garnish

Dried apple chips

For the Cake

Spray a 15-cup bundt pan with baking spray with flour; set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the apple butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and pecans; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes, or until smooth.  Add the sugar and salt and beat at high speed for 10 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  Gradually add the flour, cinnamon and baking powder, beating until well combined.

Spoon one-third of the batter into the prepared pan, making a well in the center of the batter. Spoon half of the apple butter mixture into the well.  Top with another third of the batter, making a well in the center of the batter.  Spoon the remaining half of the apple butter into the well and top with the remaining batter.  Using a knife, pull the blade back and forth through the batter to swirl the apple butter layers.  Smooth the top using an off-set spatula.

Place in a cold oven.  Bake at 325° F until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. (If the cake begins to brown before it's done, lightly cover with a sheet of aluminum foil.) Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Invert the pan on a wire-rack to release the cake and let cool completely.  

For the Frosting

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, cream, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool completely.  Using a hand-held mixer, add the confectioners' sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the frosting over the top of the cooled cake and let fall down the sides. Allow the frosting to set, about 2 hours.  Slice and serve.  Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Southern Lady, September 2015