This moist Apple Butter Spice Cake is the perfect cake for Fall. Bursting with cozy, warm cinnamon and apple butter flavors, this delicious cake has so much flavor in each and every bite! The apple butter buttercream frosting really makes it even more super amazing! Sugar-free option available!

For fall, we also love easy recipes like my Starbuck's Banana Bread, this Cinnamon Applesauce Bread and 20 Smashing Pumpkin Breads for Fall!

Time for Fall Baking Season!!

Bring on the cinnamon, the pumpkin, the apples and the caramel! Can you tell I get just a little excited about the fall season? One of the reasons I love this cake so much, is that it’s a great way to use up leftover apples to make your own apple butter or when you have apple butter on hand.

Or if this one layer cake sounds good enough, you'll go buy some, like me! We just happened to be at an Amish market and thought it sounded really good and picked up a few jars of it! Talk about yummy!

So are you craving something sweet and oh-so-satisfying? Apple butter spice cake with apple butter buttercream is the answer.

This classic cake is sweet, flavorful, and the perfect combination of autumnal spices and apple flavor. Whether you're looking for something to bring to the book club or wanting to end an intimate dinner with friends, this show-stopping cake will make any gathering a hit.

This apple butter cake recipe is very easy to follow! Get ready for a moist and fluffy spice-filled cake, perfectly thick with creamy apple butter buttercream, and impress everyone who takes a bite of this delicious dessert! What are you waiting for?

What is Apple Butter?

Apple butter is made by slowly cooking pureed apples for over an hour, so it is essentially concentrated applesauce. It’s usually flavored with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and the cooking process is similar. The only difference is that apple butter is milled, pureed, or finely chopped and then cooked for a longer period of time, which gets out more water and allows it to caramelize. What you’re left with is a dark brown, deeply caramelized spread packed with intense apple flavor.

Ironically, there is no butter in apple butter! The only thing apple butter has in common with regular butter, is that it spreads like butter but it's more like a jam. It's amazing on a buttered toast or warm fresh rolls out of the oven! And now we can make Apple Butter Cake with it!

Ingredients You Need for Apple Cake Recipe

Apple Butter Spice Cake

all-purpose flour
baking soda
salt
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg
ground cloves
granulated sugar - for sugar-free use Lakanto monkfruit sugar
unsalted butter, at room temperature
large eggs
Apple Butter - for sugar-free use sugar-free apple butter
Greek yogurt
Optional: add 1 apple, cored and diced if you want some apples added in!
Optional: add some walnuts for some crunch and texture!

Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

salted butter, room temperature
powdered sugar - for sugar-free option use Lakanto Powdered Sugar
apple butter - for sugar-free use sugar-free apple butter
optional: add 1-2 tablespoons caramel sauce for some extra yummy flavor!

How to Make Apple Butter Cake

Set the oven to 350F and spray an 8 inch or 9x9 pan lightly with cooking spray and/or line with parchment paper for easy removal.
Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Adding Apple Butter

Stir in the apple butter.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix just until combined, don't over beat.

Baking The Cake

Spread the batter in your prepared pan and bake for about 40-55 minutes, depending on size of pan, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
Cool on a rack while you make the frosting.

How to Make Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

Using a hand or stand mixer, in a large bowl, beat room temperature butter on medium speed until light, fluffy, and almost white in appearance.
Add the apple butter and mix well. (add a tablespoon or two of caramel sauce if desired.
Add in the powdered sugar and mix until creamy. Add more powdered sugar to stiffen the buttercream, or a bit of milk to make the buttercream more spreadable.
For a fun variation, add some pecans on top! You may substitute with cream cheese frosting for another frosting variation.

Additional Baking Tips for Apple Butter Cake Recipe

Room temperature ingredients – for the best results when baking, cold ingredients should be at room temperature so they can incorporate fully into the batter much easier.
Do not over mix cake batter – when mixing the dry ingredients into the wet, you want to stir until JUST combined until you no longer see streaks of flour. If you over-mix, your cake could end up tough, bake unevenly, or have lots of large holes in it.
Use fresh ingredients – Did you know using older baking soda/baking powder can affect the way your baked goods bake? Over time, leavening agents (which is what baking soda and powder are) lose their efficacy, and won’t give your quick bread a good rise. Also using older cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves can also affect the pleasant aroma and much of the spicy taste.
If you have pumpkin spice, you can replace all the cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spices with it and measure out 2 teaspoons worth. You could also use apple pie spice as well.
If you don't want frosting, that is fine! This cake is moist enough, it doesn't need frosting, although I love frosting on cake.
Make this cake sugar-free if you wish to cut back on sugar.

How to Store Apple Cake

Refrigerator: This cake will stay fresh in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Bring cake to room temperature or microwave to warm it up for best flavor options.
Freezer: Apple cake freezes nicely. Wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap covered by another layer of aluminum foil. The cake will stay fresh in the freezer for about 2 months.
Thawing and Reheating: Place the frozen cake in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. To reheat, place a slice of cake in the microwave for a few seconds until warm and soft.

Seriously guys, this lush apple butter cake recipe is so heavenly! Apple butter spice cake is an autumn classic that makes every bite feel like a cozy hug.

It’s the perfect combination of apples, spice, and butter and its buttercream makes it a bit more decadent.

Making the cake is easy and much more affordable than buying a pre-made one from the store. Home baking is a great way to not only make delicious treats, but also create lasting memories with the people you love. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or a huge glass of cold milk!

More Desserts You'll Love!

Apple Butter Spice Cake

Kim Lange

This moist Apple Butter Spice Cake is the perfect cake for Fall. Bursting with cozy, warm cinnamon and apple butter flavors, this delicious cake has so much flavor in each and every bite! The apple butter buttercream frosting really makes it even more super amazing!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Course Dessert

Servings Servings

Calories

Ingredients

Apple Butter Spice Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice or apple pie spice in place of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup sugar for sugar-free option use Lakanto sugar
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup apple butter for sugar-free option use sugar-free apple butter
½ cup Greek yogurt
optional: 1 large apple cored and diced

Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

1 cup salted butter room temperature
2 ¾ cups powdered sugar for sugar-free option use Lakanto Powdered sugar
¼ cup apple butter
optional 1-2 tablespoons caramel sauce use sugar-free caramel sauce if wanting sugar-free option

Instructions

How to Make Apple Butter Cake

Set the oven to 350F and spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan lightly with cooking spray and/or line with parchment paper for easy removal.
Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the apple butter.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix just until combined, don't over beat.
Spread the batter in prepared pan and bake for about 40-55 minutes, depending on size of pan, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
Cool on a rack while you make the frosting

How to Make Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

Using mixer, beat room temperature butter on medium speed until light, fluffy, and almost white in appearance.
Add the apple butter and mix well. (add a tablespoon or two of caramel sauce if desired.
Add in the powdered sugar and mix until creamy. Add more powdered sugar to stiffen the buttercream, or a bit of milk to make the buttercream more spreadable.