Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Applesauce Cake is sturdy, low in processed sugar, and lightly spiced, and topped with cream cheese frosting. It's ideal for use as a smash cake with extra leftover for the rest of the party!

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Birthday cake.

One of those rare treats that are allowed to be over the top, decadent, and whatever you want it to be.

When we celebrated my second son's first birthday, I had a hard time letting him eat his fill of a sugar-filled treat. I took that as the perfect opportunity to perfect a smash cake fit for a baby!

What makes this the best applesauce smash cake?

This Applesauce Cake is a little bit healthier than your ordinary cake. It takes advantage of leftover baby food jars, which you likely have sitting around with a one year old, and is sweetened with maple syrup and a bit of brown sugar.

The cream cheese frosting is always a huge hit with babies because, in my experience, babies (and I) love cream cheese!

Applesauce cake ingredients

• Butter
• Brown sugar
• Maple syrup
• Eggs
• Flour
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Baking soda
• Cloves
• Applesauce

How to make applesauce cake

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and brown sugar until creamy.
2. Add the maple syrup and mix until incorporated.
3. Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.
5. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the applesauce to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated each time.
6. Spray two clean tuna cans with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again.
7. Fill the tuna cans ¾ of the way full, then pour the rest of the batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan, or use to make cupcakes.
8. Bake 27 minutes at 350ºF or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Let the cakes in the tuna cans cool 15 minutes before carefully inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting ingredients

• Butter
• Cream cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla

How to make cream cheese frosting

1. Let cream cheese and butter soften to room temperature.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until soft and smooth.
3. Add the butter and beat on medium speed for one minute.
4. Add the powdered sugar and pulse the mixer a few times until it is somewhat incorporated, then scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat until soft and smooth.

Top tips and questions

What kind of pan to use for a small smash cake

I'm not really one to scale down recipes. Instead I'm all about baking in the container you want to use and finding another way to use up the rest.

For this smash cake I cleaned out two tuna cans, sprayed them with cooking spray, lined them with parchment, and sprayed them again. The remainder of the batter I baked in a greased 9x5 loaf pan and it made a perfectly sized cake that tastes great with this glaze (I swapped one of the teaspoons of the vanilla with cinnamon) or some of the cream cheese frosting.

Tips for customizing applesauce cake

• Add a bit of cinnamon to the frosting
• Skip the tuna tins and pour all the batter into the 9x5 loaf pan, increasing the baking time to about 1 hour
• Skip the loaf pan and make into cupcakes, reducing the baking soda to ½ teaspoon, increasing the oven temperature to 375ºF, and baking for 18 minutes or until the tops are firm and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean
• I haven't tested it, but you could experiment with other baby food purees such as carrot or squash in place of the applesauce

FAQ

More cake recipes

• Applesauce Cupcakes
• Banana Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze
• Chocolate Cake with Warm Butter Sauce
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake
• Butternut Squash Cake
• Lemon Pound Cake
• Brown Sugar Pound Cake

If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!

Recipe

Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Use this recipe to create a healthier smash cake for baby or a delicious loaf cake perfect for serving to dinner guests!

4.09 from 159 votes

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Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 27 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 2 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

Calories: 525kcal

Author: Lindsay Moe

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Ingredients

Applesauce Cake

• ▢ ½ cup butter
• ▢ ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup pure maple syrup
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, (or two 4 ounce apple baby food jars)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ▢ ½ cup butter, softened
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ▢ 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Applesauce Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two clean tuna cans and one 9x5 loaf pan. Line the sides and bottom of the tuna cans with parchment and grease again.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream brown sugar and butter. Add the maple syrup and mix until incorporated. Add the eggs and beat well.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves.
• Alternately add the dry ingredients and the applesauce to the butter mixture, mixing just until incorporated.
• Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans, filling the tuna cans about ¾ full. Bake about 27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes before carefully inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Place cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low about one minute, ensuring that it is soft and pliable. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl. Add the butter and beat on medium speed for one minute, until thoroughly combined.
• Turn the mixer on low and add the powdered sugar, followed by the vanilla extract. Beat until almost incorporated.
• Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beater. Beat on medium speed until the frosting is velvety soft.
• To frost the cake, spread frosting on top of one of the small cakes, top with the other, and spread frosting all around the outside. Use any remaining frosting to top the loaf cake, or drizzle the loaf with vanilla glaze.

Notes

 

Cake adapted from The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, frosting adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook

 

Tips for customizing applesauce cake

• Add a bit of cinnamon to the frosting
• Skip the tuna tins and pour all the batter into the 9x5 loaf pan, increasing the baking time to about 1 hour
• Skip the loaf pan and make into cupcakes, reducing the baking soda to ½ teaspoon, increasing the oven temperature to 375ºF, and baking for 18 minutes or until the tops are firm and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean
• I haven't tested it, but you could experiment with other baby food purees such as carrot or squash in place of the applesauce

 

Nutrition

Calories: 525kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 106mg | Sodium: 363mg | Potassium: 216mg | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 925IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 1.5mg

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