Apple Butter Cake with Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting
, Updated Nov 22, 2025
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This moist Apple Butter Cake is loaded with warm spices, wrapped in soft layers, and finished with tangy mascarpone (or cream cheese) frosting. A fall dessert that’s cozy, elegant, and unforgettable.
If you love the scent of warm apples and spice filling your kitchen, this apple butter cake is for you. We’ve swapped out the chunks of apple for rich apple butter infused directly into the batter, giving you intense apple flavor and beautiful moistness.
Then we dress each layer with a soft mascarpone (or cream cheese) frosting to balance the sweetness. The result? A cake that’s cozy enough for fall, perfect for Thanksgiving gatherings and easy enough to fall in love with.
Here’s What You’ll Need
- Apple Butter — The star of the show. Infuses deep, caramelized apple flavor and richness into the cake. You can use homemade or store-bought – or make a quick apple purée to use instead (see recipe notes). Apple butter, unlike applesauce, is dense and reduced with almost no additional water – that’s why this recipe leans into it.
- Warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) – For that intoxicating warm scent of fall. Replace with apple pie spice blend if preferred.
- All-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda — Give structure to hold those moist layers.
- Eggs and vegetable oil — Enrich the cake and give lift.
- Light brown sugar — Enhances sweetness and helps with browning.
- Frosting (mascarpone / cream cheese base) — Provides tang and balances the sweetness; helps the cake feel elegant and luscious.
How to Make Apple Butter Cake
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°F). Mist two 8-inch (you can also use three 6-inch cake pans for a triple layer cake) with cake release and line the bottoms with baking paper.
- Add the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk at high speed until doubled in volume using a hand mixer (or a stand mixer).
- Add the apple butter, oil and vanilla and whisk at high speed until batter is smooth.
- Sift the flour, almonds if using, baking powder, soda, salt and spices into the wet ingredients and fold together to combine. Rest for five minutes.
- Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake in the centre of the oven for 22-25 minutes. The cakes are ready when springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the tester comes out with wet batter, continue to bake for a few minutes longer and check again.
- Leave cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes and carefully turn out onto a wire rack and cover with plastic wrap.
Make the frosting
- Beat the mascarpone, powdered sugar, a little of the cream, cinnamon and vanilla on low speed.
- Gradually ad the cream and increase the speed until you have firm peaks, scraping the down the bottom and sides of the bowl halfway through.
Assemble the cake
- Transfer the frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the bottom cake layer.
- Spread apple purée inside the ring and level. Top with second layer (or repeat if you have made three layers) and cover the top with frosting.
- Pipe a thick a layer of frosting over the sides of the cake. Use a palette knife to smooth the top of the cake letting the frosting spread over the edges.
- Use a side scraper to smooth the frosting on the sides of the cake – using a turntable will make this easier. Use a serrated side scraper to create a pattern (optional).
- Drizzle apple butter or caramel sauce around the edge of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
- Pipe any remaining frosting on top of the cake, add a few chopped nuts around the base (optional) and decorate with small apples or toffee apples.
Recipe Variation
You can replace the homemade apple butter with store-bought apple butter. The original recipe also provided a method to make apple purée which replaces the apple butter – here’s what you need to do:
- 3 large cooking apples, peeled and cubed (or 6 smaller apples)
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp (75g) dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- juice of a small lemon
- Put all the ingredients for the apple purée in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Keep stirring until the apples are soft and breaking up. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blend apples to a smooth purée.
- Measure 1 cup (240g) of purée for the cake and reserve the rest to be used between the layers and for the drip.
Recipe Notes
- The cake layers can be made up to three days in advance and kept, covered in plastic wrapped, at room temperature. You can also freeze the unfrosted layers, covered in layers of plastic wrap and foil for up to two months. Defrost at room temperature, then frost before serving.
- Use two 8-inch cake pans as pictured, or divide the batter between three 6-inch cake pans for a triple layered cake.
- Replace the apple butter drip with caramel sauce or smooth Biscoff spread.
- Leftovers and storage: Store the cake in a covered container away from direct light for up to four days. Freeze slices in layers of plastic wrap and foil for up to 2 months and thaw in the fridge before serving.
Have you made my Apple Butter Cake recipe? Please leave a comment and rating if you try this recipe, follow me on Pinterest for more easy recipes and don’t forget to tag me on @Instagram or TikTok so I can see your creations.
Apple Butter Cake
Apple butter cake with spiced layers and creamy frosting. Think of it as a level-up from apple cake – deeper flavor, more moisture, and a dessert that feels like autumn in every bite.
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) apple butter (apple butter recipe here)
- ⅓ cup (80ml) vegetable oil
- 2 cups + 1 tbsp (260g) flour all-purpose / plain
- 2 tbsp ground almonds / almond meal (optional)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp salt
Mascarpone frosting
- 1 lb (450g) mascarpone or brick-style cream cheese
- 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- ½ cup (120ml) cream heavy / double
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°F). Mist two 8-inch (you can also use three 6-inch cake pans for a triple layer cake) with cake release and line the bottoms with baking paper.
- Add the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk at high speed until doubled in volume using a hand mixer (or a stand mixer).1 cup (200g) light brown sugar, 3 large eggs
- Add the apple butter, oil and vanilla and whisk at high speed until batter is smooth.1 cup (240g) apple butter, ⅓ cup (80ml) vegetable oil
- Sift the flour, almonds if using, baking powder, soda, salt and spices into the wet ingredients and fold together to combine. Rest for five minutes.2 cups + 1 tbsp (260g) flour, 2 tbsp ground almonds / almond meal, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp salt
- Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake in the centre of the oven for 22-25 minutes. The cake is ready when springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the tester comes out with wet batter, continue to bake for a few minutes longer and check again.
- Leave cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes and carefully turn out onto a wire rack and cover with plastic wrap.
Make the frosting
- Beat the mascarpone, powdered sugar, a little of the cream, cinnamon and vanilla on low speed. Gradually ad the cream and increase the speed until you have firm peaks, scraping the down the bottom and sides of the bowl halfway through.1 lb (450g) mascarpone, 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar, ½ cup (120ml) cream, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Assemble the cake
- Transfer the frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the bottom cake layer.
- Spread apple purée inside the ring and level. Top with second layer (or repeat if you have made three layers) and cover the top with frosting.
- Pipe a thick a layer of frosting over the sides of the cake. Use a palette knife to smooth the top of the cake letting the frosting spread over the edges.
- Use a side scraper to smooth the frosting on the sides of the cake – using a turntable will make this easier. Use a serrated side scraper to create a pattern (optional).
- Drizzle apple butter or caramel sauce around the edge of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
- Pipe any remaining frosting on top of the cake and decorate with small apples or toffee apples. Add a few chopped nuts around the base of the cake to decorate (optional).
Notes
You can replace the homemade apple butter with store-bought apple butter or sweetened apple sauce. The original recipe also provided a method to make apple purée which replaces the apple butter.
-
Put all the ingredients for the apple purée in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Keep stirring until the apples are soft and breaking up. Use an immersion blender or food processor to blend apples to a smooth purée.
-
Measure 1 cup (240g) of purée for the cake and reserve the rest to be used between the layers.
Nutrition
Calories: 595kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 232mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 56g | Vitamin A: 899IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
I made this almost exactly after the recipe! 😉 Used 24cm cake tins so it was only two layers and i put swedish gingerbread cookies on top. this cake is like the moistest kind of carrot cake and the frosting is my new favorite kind of frosting! it was a huge hit!
So glad to hear! Wish I had a slice ❤️
I think 6″ layer cakes are so cute and I finally bought some 6″ pans. I got them yesterday and this will be my first use of them! I think I cooked the apples a bit (lot) too long because I ended up with more of a thick apple paste rather than a smooth puree. What consistency should it be? I’m wondering if I should add a bit of water to loosen it up before using it in the cake.
It should be the consistency of apple purée (or sauce) definitely not a paste. If you look at the video you will see how the purée looks. If it is too thick I would definitely add a bit or water or apple juice to thin it out. Or start a new batch and keep the paste to smear in the layers. Hope this helps and good luck
Thanks! Unfortunately the video doesn’t show up for me. It goes from “Video” to “Notes” with just a blank space in between.
Hi Michael – if you are on desktop version of the website the video will play within the recipe and not in the recipe card.
What size cake tin would you recommend using?
I used small tins – 15cm /6 in. You could use bigger ones, your layers won’t be as deep. If you have really big time then make two layers instead of three.
I’m making this tomorrow so we can have it for our Christmas Eve dinner. But my husband is allergic to nuts, and I see the recipe calls for ground almonds. Can I just add more flour or skip this ingredient altogether? Thank you!! and Happy Holidays from the Caribbean!
Oh sorry I saw this now – you can omit the nuts and replace with more flour the cake might be a bit more dense as result
This cake is absolutely stunning! Thank you so much for allowing me to us it in my apple round-up! Have a great day!
Thanks for including it Michele xxx
Any ideas on which apples to use if cooking apples are not available? Here in Spain it is very difficult if not impossible to find them. Would love to make this cake as had such overwhelming results with some of your other recipes.
You can use any crisp tart apple – make sure that you have about 500g of apples.
In your cake directions, no where do I read that you should only use 300 gr. in it and reserve the rest. Am I correct on assuming that is what you did? I would like to make this, but I want to be sure on this 1st. Thank you
That’s right – 300g is used in the cake batter and the remaining purée is piped between the layers. Cook the apples first, make the purée, measure 300g to use in the cake and reserve the rest. I have made that a bit clearer in my instructions, so thank you for pointing that out 🙂
Oh wow! I LOVE this cake Lucy…. It has to be one of the most eye-catching and delicious I have seen. Just gorgeous xx
Oh my sweetness! This is a masterpiece at the least! I really like how the toffee sauce drizzle is on the edges and in the middle but not in between. This is something that must be very hard to replicate however I would like to try it at least once!
This pie screams fall and “get in my face”. 😉