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A slice of applesauce cake with easy penuche icing on a small plate.

Applesauce Cake with Caramel (Penuche) Frosting

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  • Author: Nguyet Vo
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 15 (2.5 x 3 inch) slices
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This easy applesauce cake with penuche frosting is a great afternoon snacking cake but also feeds a crowd, making it a great option for parties and pot-lucks too. The caramel flavor of the penuche frosting pairs well with the applesauce and warm spices in the cake, turning this simple dessert into an ideal choice for fall and winter gatherings (but, honestly, it works all year-round).


Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce, room temperature (see Note 1)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup raisins

For the frosting

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar (see Note 2)
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 3/42 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

For the cake

  1. Prep oven and pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9×13 inch cake pan or a quarter-sheet pan (see Note 3). Set aside.
  2. Mix wet ingredients. Place butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until thoroughly mixed, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add applesauce. Add applesauce and mix until combined. The batter will become separated and that’s OK.
  4. Mix in dry ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves and mix again until just combined.
  5. Add raisins. Stir in raisins (see Note 4).
  6. Bake. Spread batter in prepared pan.  Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let cake cool while making the penuche icing.

For the frosting

  1. Cook butter and sugar. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat (see Note 5). Once the butter is melted, whisk in brown sugar. Continue cooking over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  2. Add milk. Carefully pour in milk (mixture will bubble up).  Bring mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Cool mixture until it is lukewarm.
  3. Add sugar. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and thickened (see Note 6).
  4. Frost cake. Spread frosting on cooled cake. Allow frosting to cool completely before cutting.

Notes

  1. If you can only find sweetened applesauce, then reduce the granulated sugar to 1/2 cup.
  2. You can use light or dark brown sugar. I usually use dark brown sugar.
  3. You can also line the cake pan with parchment paper instead if you prefer.
  4. The original recipe that I got from my mother-in-law also included an optional 1/2 cup of pecans. However, I have never included pecans when I have made this cake.
  5. Be sure to use an appropriately sized saucepan. The butter and brown sugar mixture will bubble up quite a bit when the milk is added and you don’t want the mixture to bubble over the edge of the pan.
  6. Start with 1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting. If the frosting is too thin to spread, then whisk in more powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until frosting is just thick enough to spread. If frosting becomes too thick, you can thin it out with a small amount of hot water.
  7. The frosted cake can be stored covered at room temperature for up to 5 days.
  8. This recipe doubles easily to make a 12×17 inch sheet cake.
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