Sticky Toffee Apple Cake
This perfect sticky toffee apple cake is a soft and tender spice cake layered with sweet, juicy apples, filled delicious sticky toffee sauce, frosted with cream cheese frosting and drizzled with extra sticky toffee sauce. It’s perfectly moist, full of warm autumn spices and lots of seasonal apple flavor. Apple lovers are sure to adore this cake!
Why You’ll Love This Sticky Toffee Apple Cake
Perfectly moist apple spice cake- This cake is incredibly soft and full of warm autumn spices, like cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, which pair wonderfully with the sweet apples.
Soaked in sticky toffee sauce- After the cake bakes, an easy homemade brown sugar toffee sauce gets poured over the top, allowing each bite to be full of sweet and salty, rich brown sugar flavor.
Cream cheese frosting- It’s light and fluffy, not too sweet, and makes each bite of cake just completely melt in your mouth!
For the full recipe, including measurements, step by step instructions, and bake time, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a brief overview!
Tips for baking a soft and moist apple cake
Room Temperature Ingredients- You’ll have the best textured cake if you use room temperature ingredients instead of cold. Cold wet ingredients, like eggs, sour cream, and buttermilk can cause the cake to bake with more of a gummy consistency, and we don’t want that. We want a moist and fluffy cake!
Measure Your Flour Properly- If you learn anything from making this recipe, please let it be this: measure your flour (and all other ingredients) with a digital kitchen scale. Don’t scoop your measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to inaccurate flour measurements and therefore, a wonky bake.
Mixing the Batter- You’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until pale in color and fluffy, and the eggs should be mixed in until smooth. It’s okay at this point to mix a lot, as we’re adding air into the eggs, helping to give the batter a “lift”. However, mix the dry ingredients on low speed just until they are blended into the wet ingredients to avoid an overly dense cake.
Baking Pan- I recommend using a light colored, metal baking pan. This will help to ensure that the cake gets baked evenly. A glass or dark colored baking pan can cause baking variations, like the cake baking too quickly, being over-baked in some areas, while not fully baked in others.
Sticky Toffee Apple Cake FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for three days. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before enjoying for the best texture!
I have been on my own gluten free journey lately and have found that most of my recipes turn out great GF- Hooray! There is a caveat though, I can only say the recipe will come out good with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour. This is not sponsored, but my true opinion. This is the only gluten free flour I use as it bakes most similarly to regular, all-purpose flour.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it but mixing 2/3 cup (160 ml) of whole milk with 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar.
If you make this cake please leave a star review! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see your creation! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Other Recipes to Try Next Time
Sticky Toffee Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the Spiced Apples
- 2 1/2 cups (335 g) apples peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of allspice
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
- 2 tsp (5 g) cornstarch
For the Spice Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (282 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (82 g) sour cream, at room temperature
For the Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 9 tbsp (126 g) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (165 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese
- 2 1/2 cups (325 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the Spiced Apples
- Add the apples to a large sauce pan. Sprinkle the spices, sugar, and cornstarch over them. Stir to coat the apples, then let everything sit for 10 minutes to create a juice.2 1/2 cups (335 g) apples peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces , 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, pinch of allspice, 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar, 2 tsp (5 g) cornstarch
- Then cook the apples for 7-10 minutes until the juice is thick and the apples are slightly softer with a little bit of crunch left. Make sure to stir while the apples are cooking to ensure even heating.
- Remove the apples from the heat and allow them to cool completely.
For the Spice Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 ℃). Grease a 9×9 inch light metal baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.2 1/4 cups (282 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- To a large bowl add the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated white sugar. Cream together with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. (If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.)10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar, 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth, about 1 minute.3 eggs, at room temperature, 1 tbsp vanilla
- Add in the buttermilk and sour cream. Mix on medium speed until combined. (The batter will look split at this point, but don't worry. It will pull together once the dry ingredients are added in.)2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature, 1/3 cup (82 g) sour cream, at room temperature
- Add in the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until all is combined and the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth it out, then add the apples on top in an even layer. Add the rest of the cake batter on top of the apples and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Bake the cake for 46-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then pull up on the parchment paper to release it from the pan. Let the cake continue cooling on the wire rack until completely cooled.
For the Sticky Toffee Sauce
- While the cake bakes, make the easy toffee sauce. Add the butter and brown sugar to a medium saucepan. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, then let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.9 tbsp (126 g) unsalted butter, 3/4 cup (165 g) light brown sugar, packed
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and whisk in the cream. Let the mixture simmer for 1-2 minutes.1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- Remove from the heat, then mix in the vanilla and salt. Pour the hot toffee sauce into a bowl and let it cool on the counter to room temperature.1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the butter to a large mixing bowl and mix on high speed with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.(If using a stand mixer, use a whisk attachment.)1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Then add in the cream cheese and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.8 oz (226 g) cream cheese
- Sift in the powdered sugar and add in the vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined. Then mix on high speed until fluffy again.2 1/2 cups (325 g) powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla
Assembling the Cake
- When the cake is completely cooled, cut a very thin layer of the top of the cake off using a sharp knife. This will make it easier for the toffee sauce to absorb into the cake. Transfer it to a serving plate. Poke holes on the top of the cake using a wooden stick or the handle of a wooden spoon.(I used the handle of a honey dipper for smaller holes.)
- Slowly pour about 3/4 of the toffee sauce on top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth the sauce out and help to move it into all the holes. The sauce is thin so it should absorb into the cake and the poked holes easily.
- Frost the top of the cake with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. Drizzle extra toffee sauce on top of the frosting and gently swirl it into the frosting with the back of a spoon. Then cut into 16 squares and serve!(If you have leftover toffee sauce, drizzle it over each piece of cake when serving.)
