Glazed Apple Cider Loaf Cake

Using up leftovers is a mitzvah (good deed) in this house because I hate to see food go to waste. So I felt good as I set out to make a cake with dried apple slices I had received as a gift, leftover apple cider I bought for recent party, and walnuts from an impulse purchase gigantic bag that seemed never-ending (Costco, you will be my downfall). 

At first, I thought I would throw all the ingredients into a pan with a bit of flour and a few eggs, add a bit of vanilla, and call it a day. But then I found an Ina Garten lemon cake recipe that started me down a garden path…

Although no step was difficult and each one led inexorably to the next, I will admit that my original plan had not included a cider syrup to moisten the cake after baking and a glaze to finish it off. No matter. When we cut into this glazed apple cider loaf cake, I was awed. Moist, subtly flavored, and not overly sweet, by the end of the first piece, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist. And two of us polished off the entire loaf in record time.

There are a couple of tips to making this loaf cake look and taste so good.

• Use dried apples, not fresh. The ratio of liquid to solids assumes that the apples are dried. Plus, the dried ones have a concentrated “appley” taste. 

• Make sure the butter is room temperature and cream it well with the sugar. Advice from someone who should know better: take the butter out of the refrigerator  and let it come to room temperature on the counter. Using a microwave to speed up the process, even at a low setting,is a chancy proposition that too often turns the butter into glop or a melted mess. The combination of room temperature butter, creamed with sugar gives the cake its airy texture and helps it to rise. (Eggs for baking should always be at room temperature. If yours are straight from the refrigerator, put them in a bowl of warm water for several minutes, until the outside of the eggs feel warm.) 

• Follow the directions for alternating dry and wet ingredients – don’t take a short-cut and dump them in all at once. 

• Use parchment paper to form a cradle for lifting out the cake from the pan. A few inches of paper on the longer sides of the pan become handles that you can use to lift the loaf cake out of the pan without turning it upside down or worrying about anything sticking to the bottom.

• If the top of the cake looks done before the inside is fully baked, lightly cover it with a small sheet of aluminum foil, which prevents the top from burning as you continue to bake it.
• Add the cider syrup while the cake is still warm and wait until it is quite cool before adding the glaze. The syrup needs the warmth to sink into the cake and the glaze has to be added only once the cake has fully cooled or you’ll end up with melted glaze that doesn’t look pretty. 

Print Recipe

Glazed Apple Cider Loaf Cake Yum

An incredibly moist and delicately flavored loaf cake, perfect for brunch, holiday parties, and snacks.

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup apple cider heated
• 3/4 cup tightly packed dried apple cut into bits (1 ounce)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup yogurt (2.5 ounces)
• 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup lightly tasted chopped walnuts

Syrup

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider heated

Glaze

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 teaspoons apple cider
• pinch of grated fresh or ground nutmeg

Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 60 minutes Servings Ingredients Cake 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup apple cider heated 3/4 cup tightly packed dried apple cut into bits (1 ounce) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup yogurt (2.5 ounces) 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs at room temperature 1/2 cup lightly tasted chopped walnuts Syrup 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons apple cider heated Glaze 1/2 cup confectioners sugar 2 teaspoons apple cider pinch of grated fresh or ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Oil or butter a loaf pan, dust it with flour, and then insert a piece of parchment overhanging the longer sides.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set them aside.
4. Combine the heated apple cider and the bits of dried apple and set them aside, so that the dried apple soaks up some of the cider while you are working with the butter and sugar.
5. Mix the yogurt and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl or two-cup measuring cup and set them aside.
6. Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand or stand mixer for about five minutes, starting at low speed and going up to medium-high speed. They should be light yellow and fluffy when you're done.
7. With the mixer at low speed, add the eggs one at a time to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
8. Strain the apple bits out of the apple cider and add the cider to the yogurt and vanilla.
9. Add the dry mixture and the yogurt/cider/vanilla mixture alternately to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, mixing or folding them in only until they are combined. Begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Once those three mixtures are fully combined, add in the cider-soaked apple bits and the chopped walnuts.
10. Spoon the batter into the loaf pan, smooth out the top, and bake it for 45 minutes to one hour, until the top has risen and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
11. Let the baked cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently lift it out, using the parchment "handles." Place the cake on a wire rack, platter, or baking sheet, with the parchment remaining below. (Without the pan as structure, the parchment falls down and the cake sits on it.)
12. Heat the two tablespoons of cider and add the sugar, mix them to form a syrup, and spoon it over the cake a few teaspoons at a time. Let the syrup soak into the cake. It won't be totally even, but do try to move along the length of the cake while spooning the syrup over it.
13. Leave the cake (with the parchment underneath) to fully cool. Once it is totally cool, add the two teaspoons of apple cider and the nutmeg to the confectioners sugar, mix it up to form a glaze, and drizzle it over the top of the cooled cake. Wait until the glaze is set before slicing the cake.

Recipe Notes

Although the pan is parchment-lined, it needs to be oiled and floured because the parchment does not go up the short sides of the pan.
If the top begins to brown before the cake is finished baking, place a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top to prevent the top from burning.

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