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Food & Recipes

Easy Honey Apple Gingerbread Cake

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Perfect for a family get-together or a girls’ night in, this decadent (not to mention easy-to-make) Honey Apple Gingerbread Cake will leave your guests begging for more. With warm, cozy flavors — like molasses and honey and just a hint of cinnamon — this dish is hard to pass up, especially on a cold and dreary day.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark sugar will work)
  • 2 sticks (16 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, (optional)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 apples, peeled, diced and tossed with 1 Tbsp. flour

For Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 stick (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • Lemon zest
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • Pinch of sea salt

For Honey Caramel:

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • Pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour four 6″ x 2″ cake pans, or do two at a time if you don’t have four pans. (Tip: We used baking spray with flour in it and added a strip of parchment paper to each pan for easy lifting.)

2. Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the eggs and brown sugar. Mix in the butter, honey, molasses, and buttermilk.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet batter until combined and then stir in the apples.

5. Divide the batter into four equal parts and fill each prepared cake pan.

6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly and then lift each layer out by the parchment or invert onto a plate. Allow to cool thoroughly before frosting.

7. While the cakes are baking, make the frosting by beating together the cream cheese, butter, honey, lemon zest, powdered sugar, and salt until smooth.

8. To make the caramel, add the sugar and honey to a heavy bottom pot and, on low heat, allow to melt. Be careful not to let it burn. Pour in the heavy cream and whisk until smooth. Stir in the butter and salt.

9. Assemble the cake by spreading about 1/4 cup of frosting between each layer. Some will drip out when you put the next cake layer on top. When all the layers are assembled, use an offset spatula to spread the dripped frosting around the sides of the cake.

10. Dip a few small apples in the caramel as decoration if you like, or just serve the honey caramel on the side, so your guests can drizzle some over their cake slice.

This recipe was originally published by the National Honey Board and was republished with permission.

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