A Mini Apple Cider Cake that is big enough to share, or small enough to satisfy your fall flavor cravings! This is a coarse crumb cake made with flour and cornmeal for a satisfying bite. And the apple flavor is amped up with cider, applesauce and fresh apple slices – for a perfect slice of fall!
Mini Apple Cider Cake – Delicious Fall Dessert
You have probably heard of apple cider flavored desserts this season. And if you are like me, you have asked yourself ‘what is apple cider, really‘? The answer made me go ‘oh’, so here is my version: apple cider is basically unfiltered apple juice. In appearance it will look opaque, whereas apple juice is pretty see though. Additionally, some apple juice has added sweetener (and sometimes flavor). Whereas apple cider is just straight up apples made into juice. And that is it.
So, while I could just call this an apple juice cake, I like the purity of apple cider. Also, this cake is refined sugar free and I didn’t want to introduce anything to the contrary.
Getting to the fall dessert flavor, I would say apple comes in a close second to – you guessed it – pumpkin. But let’s face it, sometimes we get a little pumpkin’d out. Besides, don’t you just love the idea of apple harvest time, and going out in with your little basket to pick some apples? Wait, I saw that in a Hallmark Movie. 🙂
Coarse Crumb Texture Cake
Sometimes I like a little bite to my cake. As evidence in my Pear Ginger Upside Down Cake. It seems inherent that a fall fruit dessert would do well with a tasty, sturdy base. I also like the way the crumb of the cake mimics the coarse texture of the apple, or pear.
For this Mini Apple Cider Cake, we swap in some cornmeal for some of the flour. The result is a cake that has a ‘toothsome’ bite, but is far from being straight up cornbread.
6-Inch Mini Cake for Two
This recipe is for a mini 6-inch cake. Which makes it the perfect size for two people to have two slices – if you want to make the cake last more than one day! Otherwise, it does serve 4 perfectly portioned slices of cake. Because it’s fall, and you probably have a kitchen counter full of other tasty fall treats!
Looking for more fall desserts for your holiday get together?
I’ve got you covered!
- Creamy Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies
- Apple Brown Sugar Hand Pies
- Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
- Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls
Mini Apple Cider Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced (I used a Red Delicious)
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon apple cider
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Maple Syrup Caramel Sauce (I doubled the recipe for this cake)
- Crystalized Ginger, chopped (optional for adding to Maple Syrup Caramel Sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350o degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line the cake pan with a piece of parchment paper wide enough to fit the pan and long enough to overhang the sides of the pan – this creates a sling to lift the cake out of the pan.
- Make the Maple Syrup Caramel Sauce ahead of time. Double the recipe if you want extra caramel on top of your cake before baking, plus extra to drizzle on before serving.
- Core and thinly slice the apple. Depending on how you arrange the apple on top of the cake, you may have extra slices. For this recipe, I only used about ¼ of the apple.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the apple cider, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix in the egg until incorporated, then mix in the melted butter.
- Add ½ of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Gently whisk until just incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk until no dry streaks remain.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles on top of the batter. Pour ¾ (if you doubled the recipe – all if you did not) of the Maple Syrup Caramel Sauce over the top of the apples. Optional – sprinkle chopped pieces of crystallized ginger over the top.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Cool in the cake pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Use the parchment sling to gently remove the cake from the pan, remove the parchment, and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Drizzle with the remainder of the Maple Syrup Caramel Sauce before serving, and enjoy!