Caramelized apples, pecan streusel and a spash of Bill’s bourbon mek the most delicious apple bourbon loaf cake
There is one hour of my life when I am guaranteed to sit still, and it happens in a salon chair. Cape on, color setting, nothing to do but read whatever is stacked on the little table beside me. I go straight for the food magazines.
This time, somewhere between the color and the cut, I turned a page and found an apple bourbon loaf cake in Food & Wine. Caramelized apples cooked down with bourbon, a pecan streusel, and a sour cream batter, all layered into a loaf pan. I stopped turning pages.
It is Sweet Treats day with Sheri Silver, and we landed in different corners of the season this month. Sheri is baking with cranberries. I am here with apples and bourbon, two fall flavors that have never needed an introduction.
A Splash of Bill’s Bourbon
The bourbon brings a warm flavor to the apple filling, and it is the same bottle of Bill’s that I raided for my Bourbon Pecan Caramel. (Bill, if you are reading this, it went to a good cause.) A quarter cup is all it takes, and it is cooked down with the apples until the liquid is almost gone.
My one piece of advice is to use a bourbon you would be glad to sip. This is a cake for family and friends, and in a recipe with this few moving parts, the bourbon should be good.
I baked the cake exactly as written, then added a maple glaze at the end, because a loaf cake with streusel and apples needs a glaze. I have put my glaze at the bottom of the recipe so you can leave it off or keep it.
Apple Bourbon Loaf Cake Ingredients
This makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf cake. The apple filling starts with 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped, which comes to about 2 cups. They simmer with 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, and 1 1/2 teaspoons honey, and 1/4 cup (2 ounces) of bourbon goes in at the end. The pecan streusel is 2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, and 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed.
For the cake, set out 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus a little extra for the pan, along with 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup light brown sugar, 2 large eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. The dry ingredients are 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, and you will also need 2/3 cup sour cream. For the maple glaze, you need 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 to 3 tablespoons milk, and a pinch of salt.
Apple Bourbon Loaf Cake Directions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and line the bottom of the pan and the sides of the pan with parchment, leaving 2 inches hanging over the long edges to use as handles.
Simmer the chopped apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, water, and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Turn it down to medium-low and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, pressing gently with the back of a wooden spoon, until the apples are golden in a thick syrup. Stir in the bourbon for about 45 seconds, until the bourbon mixture has mostly cooked off, then set the pan aside to cool.
Stir the pecans, brown sugar, and flour together in a medium bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until crumbly, and refrigerate until you need it.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Mix half of the dry mixture into the batter on low for about 15 seconds, then the sour cream for 15 seconds, then the rest of the dry mixture just until combined.
Spread half of the cake batter (about 1 1/2 cups) into the prepared pan. Top with half of the streusel (about 3/4 cup) and half of the apples (a scant 1/2 cup). Repeat with the remaining batter, apples, and streusel on the top of the cake.
Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean, covering loosely with foil after 25 minutes if the top darkens too fast. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, lift out by the parchment handles, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
While the cake cools, whisk the powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk, and salt until smooth, starting with 1 tablespoon of milk and adding more until the glaze is pourable. Drizzle it over the cooled loaf. To get ahead, the apple filling and streusel keep separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to three days.
How to Store Apple Bourbon Loaf Cake
Warm from the rack is lovely, but a loaf cake like this one is often even better on the second day, once the bourbon has settled into the apples. Wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. The sour cream helps keep the crumb moist. If your kitchen runs warm, store it in the refrigerator instead, and let the slices come to room temperature before serving so the flavor is not muted. For longer keeping, wrap individual slices in plastic, stack them in a freezer bag, and freeze them for up to three months. Thaw a slice on the counter for about an hour, or warm it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds. A few minutes in a 300 degree oven also brings back that just-baked softness.
Apple Bourbon Loaf Cake Variations
The recipe is good as written, but a few swaps are worth trying. Dark rum or apple brandy can stand in for the bourbon in the apple filling, with rum bringing a molasses warmth and apple brandy leaning harder into the fruit. Bosc or Anjou pears can replace the Granny Smith apples in the same amount, for a softer, slightly floral sweetness. A handful of raisins or dried cranberries (a nod to Sheri’s cranberries this week) is another idea. Soak them in bourbon for 15 minutes, then pat them dry before adding them with the apple layers, so they plump up instead of baking hard. If you would rather skip the maple, a bourbon glaze of 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons bourbon, and 1 tablespoon melted butter, whisked smooth, works as well. Pick one or two changes at most, so the apple and bourbon flavors stay clear.
A loaf cake slices neatly and travels well, so this one is easy to wrap up for a neighbor or carry to a friend’s table. It needs no fancy equipment and no pastry skills, only good butter, a bourbon worth sipping, and the patience to let it cool. Serve a slice with vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of bourbon caramel sauce. Think of it as an apple cake that borrows from apple pie, minus the crust. Be sure to visit Sheri to get the recipie for her cranberry shortbread bars..
Where do you find your best apple recipes, and has one ever turned up somewhere unexpected?
Follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for more recipes and gift ideas as the season gets closer.
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Apple-Bourbon Loaf Cake
Apple loaf cake with bourbon-caramelized apples, pecan streusel, and a maple glaze.
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Ingredients
For the apple filling
2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup (2 ounces) bourbon
For the pecan streusel
2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
For the cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup sour cream
Maple Glaze
1–3 Tablespoons milk
1 cup of sifted powder sugar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of salt
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, then line the bottom of the pan and the sides of the pan with parchment, leaving about 2 inches hanging over the two long edges.
Start with the apples. Put the chopped Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, water, and honey in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let it bubble for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then and pressing on the apples gently with the back of a wooden spoon. You are after golden, soft apples sitting in a thick syrup. Pour in the bourbon and keep stirring for about 45 seconds, just until the bourbon mixture has mostly cooked off. Set the pan aside to cool.
While the apples cool, make the streusel. Stir the pecans, brown sugar, and flour together in a medium bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly and holds together in small clumps. Pop the bowl in the refrigerator until you need it.
Now the cake. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until it looks pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping down the bowl as you go. Beat in the vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half of the dry mixture to the bowl and mix on low for about 15 seconds. Add the sour cream and mix for another 15 seconds, then add the rest of the dry mixture and mix just until it disappears.
Spread half of the cake batter (about 1 1/2 cups) into the prepared pan. Scatter half of the streusel over the top (about 3/4 cup), then spoon on half of the apples (a scant 1/2 cup). Spread the remaining batter over everything, then finish the top of the cake with the rest of the apples and the rest of the streusel.
Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. The cake is done when a cake tester or toothpick slid into the middle comes out without any wet batter on it. If the top is darkening too quickly, lay a loose piece of foil over it once the cake has been in for 25 minutes.
When the cake is done leave the loaf in the pan 10 minutes to set, then lift it out by the parchment flaps and set it on a wire rack. It needs about 2 hours to cool.
While the cake is cooling make the maple glaze if using, all you do is mix the glaze ingredients together with a whisk until smooth. Once done drizzle the glaze over the top of the loaf and enjoy.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Food & Wine.
The apple filling and the streusel can each be made up to three days ahead. Keep them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
