Amish Applesauce Cake
Amish applesauce cake is delightfully moist and full of warm and cozy flavors. With every delicious bite, you get the taste of apples and spices, along with the crunchy texture of the nuts.
I prescribe a piece of this applesauce spice cake with a cup of coffee to get your day started off right! 😉 And I am not kidding when I say this old-fashioned applesauce cake is addictive!
Ingredients
- Butter adds richness and flavor and helps create a tender crumb.
- White Sugar sweetens the cake and helps with browning during baking.
- Brown Sugar adds moisture, depth of flavor, and a hint of molasses.
- Eggs act as a binder and provide richness and structure.
- Applesauce adds moisture, natural sweetness, and flavor. It also helps keep the cake moist.
- Milk adds moisture and richness to the cake batter, resulting in a tender texture.
- All-Purpose Flour provides structure and serves as the main dry ingredient. It helps bind the other ingredients together.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder are leavening agents that help the cake rise and become light and fluffy.
- Salt enhances the flavors.
- Ground Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, and Ground Allspice add warmth, depth, and complexity to the cake's flavor profile. They complement the applesauce and give the cake a cozy, autumnal taste.
- Chopped Walnuts or Pecans add texture, crunch, and nuttiness.
- Raisins (optional) add sweetness and chewiness to the cake. They are optional but can provide bursts of flavor and texture.
Applesauce Walnut Cake
Did you know that you can use applesauce to replace fats when baking? Baking with applesauce instead of butter or oil adds fiber and helps to reduce calories and fat. And, because of its water content, it will also keep your baked goods moist and fresh longer.
In this Amish cake recipe, applesauce is used for moisture and overall flavor. Nuts are added for an extra crunchy texture, flavor, and protein. You can use either walnuts or pecans, whichever you prefer, or leave them out if desired.
Some people also like to add frozen cherries to applesauce walnut cake.
This applesauce cake recipe can be baked in a 9x13" pan or a bundt pan. (affiliate links)
Does Amish Applesauce Cake Need Frosting?
You could top this old-fashioned applesauce cake with caramel icing or glaze, or cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Or you could slather it with your favorite buttercream frosting, whatever you prefer.
But honestly, this moist homemade applesauce cake does not need frosting. You can dust it with a bit of powdered sugar, or leave it plain.
I LOVE to eat this cake plain, along with a cup of coffee for breakfast! It feels more like I'm eating a muffin. Because after all, isn't the frosting basically the only difference between cake and a muffin? And this applesauce cake has fruit in it too, so it sounds pretty healthy to me. 😉
Well, I'm kidding actually (kind've), because as much as we wish cake was healthy, we all know that it's not. But, you know, this easy applesauce cake from scratch is still healthier than some cakes. 🙂
Memories of Canning Applesauce
I grew up in an Amish home with nine siblings. Seven of them were boys, so I was a bit outnumbered.
Typically, in Amish homes, the boys work in the barn and fields with dad, and the girls work in the house and garden with mom.
Although we girls got called on plenty of times to help with the barn chores as well. But you'd rarely find the boys helping with the women's work. It didn't seem fair, but that's the way it was.
We had several apple trees on our farm, and every fall my mom would make sure that we cook and can enough applesauce to last till the next apple season. And our family ate A LOT of applesauce!
My dad and my brothers ate applesauce with practically every meal. I know, it sounds disgusting, but they mixed applesauce with their hot cooked food to cool it down. Yuck!
I never was a fan of applesauce, but guess who had to help cut, cook, and can all those hundreds of jars of applesauce. It was no fun, and I used to feel rather bitter that I had to do all this work because the men ate so much applesauce.
And whenever there wasn't enough applesauce on the table at dinnertime, guess who had to run to the cellar to get another jar. Yep, it was me, and inwardly I felt infuriated that the boys couldn't go get their own applesauce.
So I have memories attached to applesauce that aren't all pleasant. (Looking back, it seems rather foolish that I had such an attitude about it though. lol)
If you get to try this Amish recipe for applesauce cake, I'd love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe Card
Amish Applesauce Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ c. butter (1 stick), softened
- 1 c. white sugar
- 1 c. brown sugar
- 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
- 2 c. applesauce
- ½ c. milk
- 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. ground allspice
- 1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 c. raisins, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9 x 13" baking pan, or grease and flour a bundt pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat well.½ c. butter (1 stick), softened, 1 c. white sugar, 1 c. brown sugar
- Add the egg and yolk. Mix well.1 egg, plus 1 yolk
- Add the applesauce and milk. Mix.2 c. applesauce, ½ c. milk
- In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on medium/low speed until incorporated.2 ½ c. all-purpose flour, 1 ½ tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. baking powder, 1 ½ tsp. salt, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground cloves, ½ tsp. ground allspice
- Stir in the chopped nuts and raisins.1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, 1 c. raisins, optional
- Pour the mixture into your greased pan and bake until a toothpick comes out with only a few dry crumbs. Bake a 9 x 13" cake for about 40 minutes, but it will take about 55 minutes for a bundt cake.
- Cool and enjoy. Dust the top with powdered sugar or top it with your favorite frosting.
Kathyran
Can you send recipe for Amish applesauce cake please?
Anna
The recipe is right here on my page...https://amish-heritage.org/amish-applesauce-cake-recipe/
Carrie Hope
Just like my grandmas...thank you.
Anna
You're welcome!
Ara07
Wow looks and smells yummy! 😋
Can almond flour be used on this? TYI!
Anna
I don't think I would use almond flour. It works so differently from regular flour. If you need it to be gluten-free, I recommend making it with a 1to1 gluten-free flour blend, such as Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour.
Kelly
Mine is cooking in the oven. Can’t wait to try it
Anna
Awesome! Let me know how it turned out.
Clint L
I made this recipe and did the audible with cardamom and my distilled Dr. Pepper sauce in the batter. This one needs no icing or frosting. Completely off the chain. Going to convert it to donuts and muffins to serve at our church on Sunday. Excellent fall flavor profile and a wonderful crumb. I confess that I used a 60/40 mix of AP to cake flour and the crumb was to die for!. Great job!
Anna
So glad you enjoyed it! And are being creative! Love it!
Clint L
Ms. Anna - I think your recipe readily lends itself to a variety of interpretations and I encourage you to experiment with it and see what else you can make with it. Great job, ma'am!!!
Anna
thank you
Betty Berk
The recipe sounds delicious as is but can cubed apples be added ?
Anna
I've never tried it, but I'm guessing it should be fine to add some chopped apples.
Sherry
This is such an awesome cake! I topped with an oatmeal butter brownsugar on the top before baking! So good ! Thank you!!
Anna
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!
Anna
Love it!
Karen Hahn
Absolutely delicious! I actually reduce the sugars to 3/4 c each and it turned out perfect. This is a keeper recipe for sure. In my opinion, it doesn't need frosting.
Anna
Thank you for taking the time to leave a nice comment. I'm glad you enjoy it!
Rick Cleveland
My grandmother made this and gave it out at Christmas as gifts. Instead of using raisins she used Marciano cherries that she would halve.
Anna
Interesting twist with cherries.
Carol
This sounds delicious, but 20 servings is way too much for us. I think it could easily be halved and baked in an 8x8 pan. Thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks
Anna
Sure, it should be ok to halve the recipe. But another thing you can do is bake a 9x13", slice it , and freeze some in an airtight container for later. It keeps well in the freezer for a long time, and you can just get out whatever you want for the day.
Liz
Delicious moist cake. Family loved it. Served with whip cream. Cut up left overs and ate like a muffin. Will make again.
Anna
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Ginger
Thank you for clear directions! (Love how you listed the ingredients below each step.) This recipe was easy to make and smelled great baking. Would highly recommend!
Anna
Thank you for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Donna Long
I made this cake a few days ago, and my family went crazy for it. I followed the recipe pretty much as written except for adding 1 teaspoon of cardomon,
Just for another layer of flavor.
We especially loved it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Anna
So glad you enjoyed it!
Wanda
I made this cake today. It is delicious and was a big hit with my husband. I used my homemade chunky applesauce. I really appreciate the ingredients being listed with the directions. I used all ingredients listed, but I did add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I am glad that I found your blog today. I will definitely be using this recipe again.
Anna
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And glad to have you here!