Christmas Special: Apple – Cranberry Spice Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Like the Halloween Baking specials… I will have a series of christmas baking special. 
Its a 2 layer Apple- Cranberry Spice Cake with an apple sauce filling and a cinnamon buttercream frosting. 

Ingredients
Apple Sauce:

• Apples – 4 (Granny Smith/ Golden delicious/ pink lady)
• Water – 60ml

Apple- Cranberry (You need 2 – 16cm round baking tray)

• Flour – 180gm
• Dark brown sugar – 150gm 
• Butter – 150gm
• Eggs – 3 large
• Baking powder – 2 teaspoons
• Cranberry – handful (chopped)
• Ginger – 1/2 teaspoon 
• Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
• Nutmeg – a pinch 
• Apple sauce – half of the apple sauce made
• Milk – 60ml

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

• Butter – 125gm
• Cinnamon powder – 1 teaspoon
• Icing sugar – 300gm
• dash of milk

Method
Apple Sauce:

• Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces. 
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat, add the water and cook the apples until soft. 
• once the apples are cooked enough, mash the fruits so it becomes thick and saucy. Let it cool

Apple Cranberry Spice Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and line the cake pans with parchment sheet or butter it up and dust some flour. 
• In a large bowl, Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. 
• Add the egg yolks to the butter sugar mix and beat well. 
• Fold in the egg whites into this mixture and add the apple sauce. 
• Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, ginger powder and mix well. 
• Add the milk and mix thoroughly. 
• Separate the batter into the 2 baking pans. Bake for about 30-40 mins, check from 35 minutes to see if baked thoroughly. 
• Once baked, let it cool on a cooling rack. 

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter until light, pale and fluffy. 
• Sift in half of the icing sugar and the cinnamon powder, beat for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the dash of milk for a smoother texture. 
• Add the rest of the icing sugar and beat for a couple more minutes. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and beat for a couple of minutes.