Apple Butter Layer Cake

What do you do when you realize that you have two jar of apple butter in the pantry and two jars in the freezer? You make cake of course! The crazy thing about this recipe is it showed up on my Pinterest page just days after I realized how much apple butter I had in the house, it was meant to be. How Pinterest knew I need to use up some apple butter I'll never know, but I am so glad the pin showed up.

This cake is a flavorful spice cake made with apple butter and some pecans for a little bit of crunch. The frosting is essentially a cinnamon cream cheese frosting and is super delicious. It is so delicious that I ate the leftover frosting on a graham cracker, I just couldn't let is go to waste.

Even though the frosting is so delicious I felt like there was just a bit too much and somewhat over powered the cake. I used 1 1/3 cups of frosting on the layers and still had a decent amount of frosting leftover. So next time I make this cake I will most likely cut the frosting in half, so the cake shines through a little bit more.

When dealing with leftover frosting, one tip I learned from my mom is to spread the cut pieces of cake with leftover frosting before putting it in the refrigerator. This will help keep the cake moist and it not dry out as fast.

Apple Butter Layer Cake

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 3- 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 8-10 cups powdered sugar
• 5-6 tablespoon milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray 3 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice.
2. In another large bowl, beat together the butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with flour, until well mixed.
4. Mix in the apple butter, just until mixed. Then fold in chopped pecans.
5. Evenly pour the batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Remove the cakes from the oven and turn out the cakes and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

Frosting

1. In a large bowl beat the butter and shortening together until light and fluffy. Add in the cream cheese and continue to beat until well mixed. Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached, adding in the milk as needed. Add in the cinnamon and mix until combined.

Assembly

1. If the cake has a dome on top cut it off to create an even layer. Place the bottom layer of one of the cakes on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread with some of the frosting, 1/2-1 1/2 cups depending on how much frosting you want in between the layers. Spread to about 1/2- inch away from the edges. Top with the top layer of one of the cakes and add some frosting. Repeat until all of the cake layers have been used.
2. Frost the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal in the crumbs and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and frost the entire cake. Decorate the top with additional frosting and whole pecans, if desired.

Enjoy!!!
*Adapted from Tornadough Alli.