Dried-Apple Stack Cakes
A delightful layered cake made with spiced gingerbread-like cake layers filled with a rich dried apple purée. Each mini stack cake is aged for two days to develop deep, complex flavors combining molasses, warm spices, and sweet apples.
Ingredients
- •9 ounces unsulfured dried apples (4 cups)
- •4 cups unfiltered apple cider
- •3 cups water
- •½ teaspoon ground mace
- •6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- •½ cup whole milk
- •½ tablespoon cider vinegar
- •2 cups all-purpose flour
- •½ teaspoon baking soda
- •½ teaspoon salt
- •½ teaspoon ground ginger
- •⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- •6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- •6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- •½ cup molasses (not robust or blackstrap)
- •1 large egg
- •2 pans muffin pans
- •1 serving whipped cream
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
Simmer all filling ingredients and a pinch of salt in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot, uncovered, stirring occasionally and mashing apples with a potato masher as they soften, until a thick purée forms, about 1 1/2 hours. Cool completely.
90 min
- 2.
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter muffin cups.
10 min
- 3.
Stir together milk and vinegar and let stand 10 minutes to curdle.
10 min
- 4.
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cloves.
5 min
- 5.
Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in molasses and egg. At low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches alternately with curdled milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until each addition is just incorporated. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon batter in each muffin cup and bake just until a wooden pick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean with some crumbs adhering, 11 to 13 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pans on racks, then invert onto racks to cool completely.
25 min
- 6.
Spread about 2 tablespoons filling on top of 1 cake and invert another cake over filling, then spread a heaping tablespoon filling on top. Make 11 more stacks (you will have about 2 cups filling left over). Transfer to an airtight container and chill at least 2 days for flavors to develop. Bring to room temperature before serving.
30 min
