Cider-Inspired Apple-Cinnamon Loaf Cake
This apple-cinnamon loaf cake takes you right to the cider mill with its warm, apple-cinnamony homey fall flavor. Enjoy with a cup of spiced cider on a chilly fall night!
Really this should be called “apple cider-cinnamon donut loaf cake”! I love that deep autumn smell of cider and cinnamon donuts that hits you when you enter the market at an apple picking place. It’s actually not so easy to find kosher apple cider, though. Usually, it’s a freshly made local item, and most cider mills aren’t certified by a kashrus agency. If you’re buying apple cider that’s processed commercially, chances are it’s more juice than cider. Wanting to capture that cider-and-cinnamon flavor, I played around with this recipe and I think I struck gold!
If you know me, you know that I’m into using real pans. Most foods — and that includes meats, chicken, veggies and definitely baked goods — come out so much better when baked in real metal. The baking is more even and it also affects the texture, giving you that perfectly cooked inside and crispy outside. I am all for making life easier and saving money, but trust me, it’s worth investing in some good pans rather than always running for the cheap disposables.
Now, that said, usually it doesn’t make THAT much of a difference, and if you really don’t have the right pan or you’re just not in the mood of pulling out your heavy cookie sheet and lining it, it’s no big deal, but that’s not the case with loaf cakes. The problem is that there is no disposable loaf pan that is the exact same size as a metal loaf pan. A real loaf pan is 9×5 inches, and the disposable pans are 8.5 x 4.5 inches. While that may sound like a small difference, in reality it’s huge.
You may be thinking, big deal, the loaf pan is deep. It doesn’t matter that it’s a bit smaller, I’ll just fill it a little more and get a slightly taller cake. But it doesn’t work that way. If you fill a loaf cake too much, the sides will get dried out and the middle will just never bake propely. Trust me, I tried so many times to figure out a way to make it work, but it just doesn’t. I find that whenever people send me messages complaining their loaf cake flopped, this always ends up being the problem!
So, the best thing to do is go out and buy a few real loaf pans. You’ll thank me for it! And if you MUST use a disposable, then don’t overfill it! Save some batter and make a few muffins or a mini cake with it instead!
I rarely use butter or margarine in my baked goods for many reasons. However some recipes simply need it! I did try this recipe with oil, and while I wouldn’t say it flopped, it’s just that much better with margarine or vegan butter (or dairy butter, if you don’t mind a dairy cake). My chocolate chip crumb cake loaf is another really good cake that’s just so much better with margarine!
Apple Cinnamon Spice Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 cup applesauce*
- ½ cup margarine (1 stick), softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 cups flour
Topping:
- ¼ cup margarine (½ stick), melted
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix together applesauce, margarine, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and cinnamon until well combined. Add baking powder, baking soda and flour and mix until just incorporated. (Batter will be very thick.)
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.
- Remove cake from pan and place on a wire rack. Drizzle melted margarine on the top of the cake.
- In a small bowl combine cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle liberally on top of the melted margarine. Let cake cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Recipe by Faigy Murray | https://mykitchenmystudio.com/apple-cinnamon-loaf-cake/
