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apple pie cake

Bourbon brown butter apple pie cake

Bourbon brown butter layer cake with apple pie and pecan crumble filling frosted with bourbon spiced swiss meringue buttercream

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Apple Pie, Bourbon, brown butter, fall cake, thanksgiving
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 2 hours
Servings 8

Ingredients

Apple Pie filling

  • 300 gm Apple (chopped, use any baking apples) 2½ cups
  • 50 gm Brown Butter 3 tbsp
  • 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
  • ½ tbsp Corn Starch/flour
  • 1 tsp Lemon Juice

Brown Butter layer cake( 3 x 7" cakes)

  • 180 gm Brown Butter (Room Temperature) 1½ sticks
  • 120 gm Canola oil ½ cup
  • 275 gm Brown Sugar 1 +½ loosely packed cup
  • 5 L Eggs
  • 120 gm Sour cream ½ cup
  • 120 ml Buttermilk ½ cup
  • 300 gm All purpose Flour 2½ cup
  • 3 tsp Baking powder

Pecan crumble

  • 50 gm Rolled oats heaped ½ cup
  • 50 gm Butter 3 tbsp
  • 30 gm All purpose Flour  2 tbsp
  • 50 gm Brown sugar/ Demerara  ¼ cup
  • 30 gm Chopped Pecans  ¼ cup
  • 1-2 tsp Cinnamon powder

Bourbon syrup

  • 60 ml Bourbon ¼ cup
  • 60 ml Water ¼ cup
  • 50 gm Brown Sugar ¼ cup

Bourbon spiced swiss meringue frosting

  • 3 L Egg Whites
  • 225 gm Granulated Sugar 1 cup + 2 tbsp
  • 250 gm Salted Butter 2 sticks + 2 tbsp
  • 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
  • 2 tsp Bourbon
  • food colouring optional

Instructions

Apple Pie filling

  1. Add all the ingredients in a small pan. Cook for 15-20 mins on low-medium heat.

  2. Once the apple is cooked and the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and keep aside until needed.

Brown Butter layer cake( 3 x 7" cakes)

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease and line the cake pans with parchment paper. I use Fat Daddio's cake pans.

  2. Add the brown butter, oil and sugar to a bowl. Cream the fats and the sugar with a paddle attachment of a stand mixer for about 3-5 minutes on medium speed or until its light and fluffy.

  3. Add and beat one egg at a time. Add the sour cream into the bowl.

  4. Sift the flour and baking powder, add to the bowl alternating with the buttermilk. Mix all the ingredients for couple of minutes, scrapping the sides if necessary.

  5. Divide the cake batter into 3 prepared pans and bake for 35- 40 mins. Check using a wooden skewer if completely baked.

  6. Remove the baked cakes from the oven and the baking pan. Let them cool on a cooking rack.

Pecan crumble

  1. Preheat the oven to 300° F / 150°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Add all the ingredients into a bowl, crumble it all together using your fingertips. Spread it on the baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until you see it browning.

  3. Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature. Store in a clean air tight jar and it can be stored for a week.

Bourbon syrup

  1. In a small pan, add all the ingredients and cook on medium heat.

  2. Cook until the sugar is dissolved.

  3. Brush the warm syrup on to the cakes.

Bourbon spiced swiss meringue frosting

  1. In a bowl add the egg whites and sugar, using the same pan of simmering water. Keep whisking until the sugar is completely dissolved. Rub the mixture between your fingertips to check if the sugar is fully dissolved

  2. Transfer this mixture to the bowl attached to the stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk the mixture until glossy and stiff also check to see if the bowl is cooled.

  3. Add the butter cubes one at a time while whisking. Keep whisking until the frosting comes together. If the frosting looks like its splitting nothing to worry keep whisking it should come together.

  4. Add the spices and bourbon and keep whisking until everything is incorporated.

  5. If frosting looks to be too runny, chill in the fridge for a few minutes and then try whisking again this should fix the Swiss meringue buttercream

  6. Transfer the frosting into a piping bag.

Assembly of the cake

  1. Add a dollop of frosting on the cake board/ cake stand. Place the bottom layer of cake on the frosting.

  2. Pipe a "dam" frosting layer around the border of the cake.

  3. Add spoonfuls of apple pie filling and drizzle pecan crumble generously.

  4. repeat steps for the next layer. Place the top cake layer.

  5. Crumb coat the cake and keep it in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.

  6. If you want to try fall leaf palette painting. You can find a quick tutorial for it here below

Recipe Notes

If you don't have cultured buttermilk at home, use 1/2 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice