Apple Loaf Cake

Each slice of this loaf cake has an irresistible quality that comes from a combination of baked apples and cider.  Studded throughout the batter, the chopped pieces add fresh-from-the-orchard flavor while the reduced cider and warm spices give it depth.  Buttermilk makes it tender and far from dry.  Bake this at night then enjoy it for breakfast – or bake it when the sun comes up and enjoy it throughout the day.  As morning fare, a snack, or dessert, it’s the ideal way to celebrate apple season

If you’ve enjoyed my apple cider vinaigrette recipe, you already are familiar with the process of making a cider reduction.  Concentrated apple flavor flavors this loaf so beautifully that you will find yourself slipping more and more into cozy autumn with each bake.

Ingredients

1 cup apple cider (will be reduced to ¼ cup)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus 2 teaspoons for tossing with apples)
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar
⅓  cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
2 sweet-crisp apples Pink Lady (also known as Cripps Pink) or Honeycrisp (or enough for 2 cups chopped)
Optional: Turbinado sugar for topping

Warmly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, this loaf cake tastes decadent without the need for a glaze, though a touch of turbinado sugar toward the end of baking gives the top crackly sweetness I love. Unlike a fluffy layer cake, this quick bread style has a plush yet dense texture thanks in part to brown sugar, apple cider, and buttermilk. This is the type of cake I slice thickly then break into pieces as I enjoy. The perfectly cooked apples are my favorite part.

How to Make a Cider Reduction

When apple cider is cooked down until much of the liquid evaporates, its flavor becomes more intense.  Make sure to use a cider whose flavor you truly enjoy as the flavor will become more pronounced as it concentrates.

Bring the apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until it reduces to ¼ cup.  Use a heatproof liquid measuring cup to check the amount of cider periodically. Set aside to cool before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

How to Make the Apple Loaf Cake

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare a light colored 8 ½ by 4 ½ loaf pan by lightly buttering sides and lining with two overlapping pieces of parchment paper, one extending lengthwise and the other crosswise.  This will make it easier to lift the loaf out of the pan after baking. A similar size pan may be used, with a larger pan requiring less baking time.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Peel then chop the apples into about ½-inch pieces.  You will need 2 cups for this recipe.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter with the brown sugar (packed) and granulated sugar until mixture lightens and becomes fluffier.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low and fully combining each.

Add the vanilla extract and reduced cider to the buttermilk. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture in increments, beginning and ending with the flour.  When adding the liquid, do so slowly so as not to overwhelm the batter with too much liquid all at once. If any cake lumps remain, gently and briefly use a whisk to smooth batter but be sure not to overwork it.

Stir 2 teaspoons of flour into the chopped apples then fold into the batter.

Scrape batter into the loaf pan, even out the top, and bake until the internal temperature near the center registers about 195 to 200 degrees on a cooking thermometer and the top is set. (Often temperature is more accurate for a loaf style cake than a toothpick test, though both methods can be used.) This should take around 1 hour and 5 to 8 minutes, but I advise checking early to keep a watch on the temperature.  If your loaf pan differs from the recommended size, cooking time will vary. 

Since the loaf bakes for a relatively long time in the oven, you may wish to cover it loosely with foil after about 50 minutes to prevent over-browning and then remove the foil as the loaf approaches its final temperature to ensure a nice top consistency. 

Sprinkle the loaf with turbinado sugar if desired during the last 10 minutes or so of baking. This will give the top a sparkly and sweet topping.

Allow loaf to cool for five minutes in pan then gently lift using the parchment flaps onto a rack to cool completely. Once cool, slice thickly and enjoy.

For more apple season recipes, try this autumn harvest salad or enjoy some mulled cider (then use leftovers in a mocktail!).