Easy Applesauce Spice Cake With Maple Buttercream Frosting

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This applesauce spice cake with maple buttercream frosting is a long-time family favorite recipe that we are excited to share with you. With a light apple flavor, warm spices, and creamy maple icing, this moist applesauce cake will become a fall staple in your home too!

Two plates with a piece of applesauce spice cake sprinkled with cinnamon.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

If you are looking for a great recipe for fall, this applesauce spice cake fits the bill! It is one of our favorite recipes—it has become tradition for our whole family to make it each year. The next time you're looking for a great recipe to make as autumn approaches, give this a try!
While we don't use a store bought cake mix for this applesauce cake recipe, it is an easy recipe to make from scratch! It is a simple cake with simple steps. All you need to do is combine the applesauce mixture and the flour mixture, pour it into a pan, bake, and frost when cool!
This cake stores really well in the refrigerator and is amazing to eat cold the next day!

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients needed for applesauce spice cake: maple syrup, apple sauce, powdered sugar, flour, butter, baking soda, salt, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, milk, eggs, and water.

Cake ingredients:

Butter - you will need ½ cup butter for the cake. We recommend using butter in this recipe and not substituting it with oils such as olive oil, vegetable oil, or coconut oil. Oil can prevent some baked goods, such as this cake, from leavening and can make them too dense.
White sugar - the white sugar helps to create a soft and moist applesauce cake.
Water - the water helps to make the batter smoother and plays a role in leavening the cake.
Unsweetened applesauce - we recommend unsweetened applesauce for this recipe. We will be controlling the sweetness by adding our own sugar to the cake batter. Unsweetened applesauce will help prevent the cake from becoming overly sweet. If you are a fan of your own applesauce, you are welcome to make homemade applesauce as well. The applesauce helps result in a very moist cake.
Eggs - you will need two eggs for this recipe.
All purpose flour - you will need basic white flour for this recipe. We have not tested this recipe with whole wheat flour or any type of gluten-free flour.
Baking powder, baking soda, salt - a few baking basics to help leaven the cake and enhance the flavor.
Cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice - these spices provide a wonderful depth of flavor to the cake making it the best fall cake out there! The combination of these spices and the light apple flavor create an apple pie spice flavor.

Maple buttercream frosting ingredients:

While other spice cakes might use a cream cheese frosting, we find that a butter frosting balances the textures and flavors.

Butter - you will need one stick of unsalted butter for the frosting. We recommend letting it come to room temperature or slightly colder than room temperature to allow it to mix better.
Maple syrup - instead of using vanilla extract to make a vanilla buttercream frosting, we use maple syrup to create a delicious maple-flavored icing. The maple flavor enhances the warm spices in the cake.
Milk of choice - the small amount of milk added to the frosting makes it smooth, creamy, and not too thick. You can use regular milk, almond milk, or even a splash of heavy cream.
Pinch of salt - to enhance the flavors and slightly contrast the sweetness of the frosting.
Powdered sugar - also known as confectioners' sugar, the powdered sugar is what creates the consistency and structure for the icing.

See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements.

Equipment You’ll Need

Electric mixer (Kitchenaid*) with a large bowl (or large mixing bowl with electric hand beaters* if you do not have a stand mixer)
Medium bowl for the dry ingredients
9x13 baking dish*
Measuring cups and spoons
Rubber spatula or wooden spoon

Step by Step Directions

For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

A large mixing bowl with butter and sugar that was creamed with an electric hand mixer.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth.

A large mixing bowl with creamed butter and sugar, applesauce, water, and eggs.

Add the apple sauce, water, and eggs and mix on medium speed until well combined.

A bowl with the dry ingredients needed for the spice cake.

Measure the dry ingredients into a separate bowl.

A large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

The applesauce spice cake batter in a 9x13 baking dish.

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and place it into the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Applesauce spice cake that has been baked and removed from the oven.

The top should be lightly golden brown and a toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

A mixing bowl with maple buttercream frosting.

We recommend waiting to make the frosting until the cake has cooled. The frosting is easiest to spread when freshly made! To make the frosting, add the butter to the bowl of the stand mixer and beat on high speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk, and salt. Mix on high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy, smooth, and light in color.

The applesauce spice cake frosted with maple buttercream frosting.

Pour the frosting over the top of the cooled cake and spread with a rubber spatula. There should be an even and smooth layer of frosting covering the cake.

Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy!

Tips & Variations

Make sure you let the cake cool completely before frosting it. If it is still warm, the buttercream frosting will melt and become uneven over the top of the cake.
If the frosting is too thick, simply add a little bit more milk until it is smooth and easy to spread. If it is too runny, add some more powdered sugar until it is thick enough to stay in place when spread on the top of the cake.
We have not tried baking this cake in any other type of pan, but you could try baking the cake in a bundt pan or loaf pans. However, note that the baking time will likely differ, so you will need to keep a close eye on it!
If you want to increase the fall flavors, you could add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the frosting to create a maple cinnamon frosting, or sprinkle a little cinnamon on top.

An overhead shot of six squares of applesauce spice cake.

FAQ

What is the difference between apple sauce and apple butter?

While apple sauce and apple butter have similar ingredients, the main difference between the two is the cooking process and results. Apple sauce is a puree of cooked apples while apple butter requires a much longer cook time to create a result that is thicker, darker-colored, and more concentrated in flavor. We do not recommend using apple butter in this recipe as it may affect the texture and flavor of the cake.

How should I store leftover apple spice cake?

We recommend storing the leftover cake in the refrigerator (we honestly love eating it cold the next day!). You can keep the cake in the pan or place pieces on a plate covered with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container.

Is it (GF/DF/V/VG)?

This recipe is not gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan. We have not tested it with gluten-free flour or oat flour. It is suitable for a vegetarian.

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If you make this applesauce spice cake recipe, please let us know how it turns out in the comments below and/or rate the recipe! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram to show us your finished product—it makes our day every time we see you trying the recipes we love!