Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake Recipe

Pouring warm caramel sauce overtop a freshly baked applesauce cake.

5 from 11 votes

Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake Recipe

This is Fall baking at its finest. Apple flavor aplenty in this moist and simple Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake. It makes great use of homemade applesauce, too!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: All Recipes, Brunch, Dessert, Snacks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apples, applesauce cake, bundt cake, caramel applesauce cake, caramel sauce, cinnamon, moist cake

Servings:

Calories: 277kcal

Author: Kimberlee Ho

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
1 ¼ cups applesauce store-bought or homemade, smooth or chunky
powdered sugar or caramel sauce for dusting or for drizzling

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease and flour a bundt pan or a 9 inch by 9 inch metal baking pan. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
In bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and both sugars on low speed until blended.
½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup dark brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
Increase speed of mixer to medium-high and beat 3 minutes until well combined and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
2 large eggs
Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in applesauce (don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled, it’s supposed to look that way!).
1 ¼ cups applesauce
Beat in flour mixture on low until smooth, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula to ensure it’s fully mixed.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean (bake time is the same for both the bundt pan and the 9×9 pan).
Cool completely on wire rack. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with caramel sauce. Slice and serve!
powdered sugar or caramel sauce

Notes

Recipe adapted from Good Housekeeping’s Great Baking cookbook

Feel free to substitute store-bought applesauce for homemade
Cake can also be made in a bundt pan or smaller pie pans. Reduce baking time if splitting the batter among a few smaller pans
Store cakes wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refrigerate or freeze for longer storage. Store cakes naked (without powdered sugar or caramel sauce)

Nutrition