This apple pumpkin cake is a perfect fall recipe. It combines two favorite flavors into one moist, delicious cake.
This apple pumpkin cake is from Robin Asbell’s latest book on Whole Grains
I have had such a wonderful time cooking and baking through Robin’s book, The New Whole Grain Cookbook: Terrific Recipes Using Farro, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Barley, and Many Other Delicious and Nutritious Grains
In Robin’s recipe she calls for canned pumpkin so you can make this cake any time of the year, but since it is pie pumpkin season I decided to use puree from a pumpkin I roasted. The apples are aplenty right now as well so I chose some that are local. You can mix and match baking apples such as Macintosh, Cortland, Haralson and/or Granny Smith. I have yet to get to an orchard to pick my own apples. But, I had the great fortune of receiving a bag of apples from my friend Jen’s father, who picked the fruit from a tree in his backyard. They are tart, but sweet and have a pink tint to their flesh. Absolutely gorgeous! I mixed them with some Granny Smith, as Robin recommends in her recipe.
Apple Pumpkin Cake Ingredients
- Apples: Granny Smith apples give this cake a wonderful tart flavor.
- Pumpkin Streusel: The streusel topping features pureed pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to give this cake the wonderful pumpkin flavor.
- Apple Chips: These give the cake more apple flavor and add a layer of crisp flavor.
How to Make Apple Pumpkin Cake
Check out the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
To start:
Butter and flour (I forgot the flour and it was just fine!) an 8-Inch Springform Pan
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Saute the apples in the butter on medium heat, just until they start to soften. Remove from heat and add the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a stand mixer combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Add the 1/2 cup butter and blend well.
Measure out 2/3 cup of the mixture into a separate bowl to make the streusel. Add the 3 tablespoons sugar and pumpkin spices to this separate bowl, blend and set aside.
Add the baking soda, pumpkin, sour cream and eggs to the flour mixture left remaining in your mixer.
Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Layer the cake batter, then the sauteed apples and finally sprinkle the streusel over the top.
Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Allow to cool in the pan and then remove the springform. Serve with Vanilla ice cream and an apple chip.
To make the apple chips. dip the apple slices in the simple syrup. Drain the excess syrup off and lay them flat on a Silpat Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat
**For those of you who may want a parve caramel apple cake for their Rosh Hashanah dinner they can either adapt this recipe or use the recipe I have that has no dairy. For those just looking for an incredible cake to make use of all those amazing apples and a roasted pumpkin this is the one for you!
Ingredients
Sautéed Apples
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 large Granny Smith apples peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Streusel Topping and Cake
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
Apple Chips
- 1 apple very thinly sliced on a Mandoline slicer
- 1/2 cup simple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour (I forgot the flour and it was just fine!) an 8-inch springform pan.
Sautéed Apples
- Saute the apples in the butter on medium heat, just until they start to soften. Remove from heat and add the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cake
- In a stand mixer combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Add the 1/2 cup butter and blend well.
- Measure out 2/3 cup of the mixture into a separate bowl to make the streusel. Add the 3 tablespoons sugar and pumpkin spices to this separate bowl, blend and set aside.
- Add the baking soda, pumpkin, sour cream and eggs to the flour mixture left remaining in your mixer. Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Layer the cake batter, then the sautéed apples and finally sprinkle the streusel over the top.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Allow to cool in the pan and then remove the springform. Serve with Vanilla ice cream and an apple chip.
Apple Chips
- Dip the apple slices in the simple syrup. Drain the excess syrup off and lay them flat on a Silpat Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat. Turn off the oven from the cake and put the sheet of apples in the hot, but turned off oven. Allow the apples to dry out for about an hour before opening the door.
I love that this cake has both apples and pumpkin – what a great thing for fall!!
I look forward to fall every year just to have a reason to bake things like this!
The cake looks incredible – all my favorite fall flavors. And now I have another cookbook that I need to go buy!
I’ve been looking for a good whole grains cookbook for awhile now and that one seems perfect! And I can’t wait to try the cake–gives me an excuse to buy another bag of apples from the farmer’s market. 🙂
I will be making this cake! What a lovely combination of ingredients and a beautiful presentation.
Nothing says falls more like the combination of apple and pumpkin! I can’t wait to try this recipe out.
This looks like a lovely cake. I’m going to give it a try and see if it travels well. Thanks!
Wow, my 2 favorite fall flavors in one cake. This looks amazing, I am printing it off right now.
I absolutely adore apple cakes and anything pumpkin so now you’ve got me drooling! Since I don’t live in a place where I can cook (just a little while longer!) I’m going to be bugging my friends to borrow their kitchens. Mmmm.
If we have to say goodbye to summer, what a perfect way to say hello to fall. I may even try roasting my own pumpkin for this one.
I love the thickness and density of it, very lovely. I have a whole bunch of apples that I was wondering what to do with, this is going on the list!
Mmm, apples and pumpkin, two of my all-time favorite flavors. I love Fall!
Yum! Those apple chips look great and the crispy topping is a real winner!
Cheers,
CCR
Hi Colloquial Cook,
I’ve always found that the smaller “pie” or “sugar” pumpkins have more flavor than the big ones.
Enjoy!
Zoë
YUM!
Pumpkin and apple, perfect because that’s what’s in my garden right now!
Now pass me a fork please.
Great looking photo too.
Here was I resisting the idea to buy one of those gigantic pumpkins, thinking “oh well it’s a little too much for one person” – here is a more than decent recipe to indulge in a real pumpkin extravaganza!!
I absolutely have to bake this one tomorrow! And I would love to win the book, too 🙂
I would have never thought about apples and pumpkin together! This sounds so good!
Wow! This cake looks great, and I love the fact that it has some nutrition in it. Thanks for sharing!
saw this on tastespotting. amazing! pumpkin and apples… my favorites. Thanks!
This reminds me of a pie I had my freshman year in college. I was in a traveling singing group and we sang at a chili cookoff in the middle of nowhere. One of the “covered dishes” was a Dutch Apple Pumpkin pie–basically a dutch apple pie (with streusel topping) and a pumpkin pie all in one. It was glorious and I braved my fear of talking to strangers to hunt down the baker and ask her to mail me the recipe (this was before any of us had email). I have no idea what happened to the recipe but I made it for Thanksgiving that year and it was the perfect combination!
Hi Sue,
Thank you so much!
Best, Zoë
Oh MY….Zoe you have outdone yourself. That cake looks so wonderful I sent a link to the page to all my baking friends…Sue in Atlanta
Looks delicious! I love whole grains and cookbooks, so that book is two great things in one. :c)