Emelia Jackson’s apple layer cake with brown butter icing

Name: Emelia Jackson’s apple layer cake with brown butter icing
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 380g brown sugar; 350g cake flour; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp mixed spice; 1 tsp ground ginger; ½ tsp ground nutmeg; ½ tsp ground cloves; 1½ tsp baking powder; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 1 tsp fine salt; 200g sour cream; 200g milk; 4 eggs; 100g neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable; 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract; 400g can apple pieces

MasterChef winner Emelia Jackson’s new monthly column ‘Better Baking’ will help you become a better home baker. First up: apple layer cake with brown butter icing.

Emelia Jackson

April 15, 2023

easyTime:1-2 hoursServes:8

This cake is one of my all-time favourites; it has everything I love about carrot cake – the moistness, the texture, the spice – along with the holy grail of baking: burnt butter. The best part, though? It’s a simple measure and mix method – no creaming, no whipping, no fuss – making it a great entry-level cake for the unconfident baker, because it is a) wildly impressive, and b) incredibly easy to make.

Technique of the month: Brown butter

Introducing Good Food’s new baking columnist, Emelia Jackson.Armelle Habib

Brown butter adds a beautiful, nutty complexity to bakes, elevating icings (such as this one), chocolate chip cookies, muffins and more – basically anywhere you use butter.

Simply add the butter to a pan set over medium heat. First it will melt, then sizzle and foam as the water in the butter evaporates, and finally the milk solids within the butter will fall to the bottom of the pan and begin to brown.

Once the foam has subsided and the butter has taken on a darker hue, you’re ready to bake! Add the butter to the dish, milk solids and all – that’s where the flavour lies.

Ingredients

380g brown sugar
350g cake flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine salt
200g sour cream
200g milk
4 eggs
100g neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
400g can apple pieces

Brown butter cream cheese Icing

220g unsalted butter
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
300g icing sugar mixture
80g sour cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional) and line the base and sides of two 20cm round cake tins with baking paper.
Step 2
For the cake, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine brown sugar, flour, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix together until cohesive, about 1-2 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, in a jug, combine the sour cream, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla with a whisk.
Step 4
Turn the stand mixer onto a low speed, then add the wet ingredients to the bowl and stir until just mixed, being sure to stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl a couple of times to ensure there are no pockets of unmixed dry ingredients.
Step 5
Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins and top each cake with the apple pieces. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Step 6
Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 7
For the icing, add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will brown in stages – first it will melt, then boil, then the surface will foam, and finally, the foam will subside and the milk solids in the butter will caramelise. I like to take the caramelisation quite far to get a strong flavour. Once the foaming subsides, your butter will have browned sufficiently. Remove from the heat, transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate until set and firm.
Step 8
Once the butter has set, transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes or until smooth. Add the cream cheese and mix for a further 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixer to ensure there are no lumps. Finally, add the remaining ingredients and beat for a further 2-3 minutes or until the icing is fluffy and light.
Step 9
Place the first cake layer down onto your serving plate and top with half of the icing. Spread the icing out evenly before topping with the second cake and the remaining icing. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow the buttercream icing to “set” slightly so you get clean slices when cutting.

Tips

I like bold flavours so there is a fair amount of spice in this cake; if you want a more subtle flavour profile, reduce the spices by half.
You can replace the apples in this recipe with other fruits such as berries, but I like to use canned fruits here because they add extra moisture and are easily accessible – think pears, apricots or peaches.
This cake is best baked in layers because no matter how hard you try, the apples will sink. I’ve used two 20cm tins, but you can easily go smaller and bake more layers for a taller celebration cake.