Applesauce Cake With Cream Cheese and Honey Frosting

By Julia Turshen

Applesauce Cake With Cream Cheese and Honey Frosting
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui
Total Time
About 1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
4(938)
Comments
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This super-simple cake, which requires one bowl and one cake pan, comes from Julia Turshen's cookbook "Now & Again," and it's so easy to make you find yourself doing so often, especially throughout the fall when apples are on your mind. (It'd be especially great for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, or for novice or time-pressed Thanksgiving bakers.) The cake's texture and appeal are similar to those of banana bread; if you like, you can stir a large handful or two of raisins, nuts or both into the batter just before you scrape it into the pan. And although you can use homemade applesauce for this, know that store-bought is just fine.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

    For the Cake

    • 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
    • 1tablespoon ground cinnamon
    • 1tablespoon ground ginger
    • 1½teaspoons kosher salt
    • 2teaspoons baking soda
    • 2eggs, beaten
    • ½cup/100 grams sugar
    • ½cup/120 milliliters buttermilk or plain yogurt
    • 1½cups/400 grams unsweetened applesauce
    • ⅓cup/80 milliliters canola or other neutral oil

    For the Frosting

    • 6ounces/170 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 2tablespoons sour cream
    • ¼cup/60 milliliters honey
    • Pinch of kosher salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

327 calories; 15 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 326 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt and baking soda. Add the eggs, sugar, buttermilk, applesauce and oil and whisk gently just until everything is combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared pan and then smooth the surface so it is even.

  3. Step 3

    Bake the cake until it is just barely firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Set the cake aside on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

  4. Step 4

    Use a dinner knife to loosen the edges of the cake from the pan sides and then invert it onto a work surface. Peel off and discard the parchment. Invert the cake one more time onto a serving platter.

  5. Step 5

    Make the frosting: In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, honey and salt and whisk together aggressively until the cream cheese is slightly aerated (you can also do this with a handheld electric mixer or in a stand mixer).

  6. Step 6

    Spread the frosting over the top of the cake and don’t worry too much about making this perfect. A not-too-perfect cake is so much better than a perfect cake. Cut into wedges and serve. Leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
938 user ratings
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Comments

farmercook

Made this as the cake for apple upside down cake in a skillet, 11inch. Sautéed diced apples and chopped candied ginger with butter and demerera sugar. Poured this over it and baked. Delicious.

Passion for Peaches

Amending my comment because the cake improved hugely after being in the refrigerator overnight (the frosting must be refrigerated). The spices became more noticeable and some of the moisture from the frosting moved into the cake. I still think it needs more oomph in the flavor profile, but I am now more impressed with the recipe than I was the day I made this.

Passion for Peaches

I’ve now made this with both yogurt and buttermilk. The texture, crumb and flavor were better with the buttermilk (I think the cake rose too much with the yogurt). Better, too, with chopped walnuts added. I topped the frosting with small-diced crystallized ginger, which brightened the flavor considerably. Next tweak I’m going to try is subbing in a jar of chunky apple pulp I have on the shelf, for the applesauce.

Hope

Flavorful with brand new ginger powder, but a little nutmeg would be good, as would some chopped nuts or apple. Baked about 42 minutes. Added about a half cup confectioners sugar, sifted, to the frosting, which was delicious. The honey flavor is great. Excellent. 4/27/25

Barbara

Just made this cake … NYTimes cooking please review recipe and make changes! I followed recipe as written and it was everything others said. Too much salt, baking time is 10-15 minutes too long, and despite one tablespoon of both cinnamon and ginger… it’s tasteless! Even my husband wouldn’t eat it.

Monica L R

I found this cake not nearly sweet enough. I would double the sugar, maybe use half brown sugar

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Credits

Adapted from "Now & Again" by Julia Turshen (Chronicle, 2018)

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