Apple Raisin Cake

An excellent spiced apple raisin cake that uses mayonnaise as an ingredient. You can frost this cake with either the cream cheese frosting or the caramel icing—either one is great on this cake. The caramel frosting will require a bit more time and effort but you won't be disappointed with the seriously delectable results. By far the best apple cake I ever made.

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Apple Raisin Cake Save
Apple Raisin Cake

An excellent spiced apple raisin cake that uses mayonnaise as an ingredient. You can frost this cake with either the cream cheese frosting or the caramel icing—either one is great on this cake. The caramel frosting will require a bit more time and effort but you won't be disappointed with the seriously delectable results. By far the best apple cake I ever made.

  • Preparing Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Served Person: 12
bake cake flour sugar mayonnaise milk eggs baking soda cinnamon nutmeg salt cloves apples raisins nuts walnuts pecans cheese butter vanilla heavy cream desserts brunch american summer sweet vegetarian white meat free contains gluten red meat free shellfish free contains dairy contains eggs pescatarian
desserts

Step-by-step

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour 2 9-inch round baking pans* (see note); set aside.
  • In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Add the mayonnaise, milk and eggs. With electric mixer, beat at low speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl frequently (batter will be very thick). Dust apples, raisins and nuts with a fine layer of flour then stir into the batter with a spoon. Evenly spoon batter into prepared pans.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely before frosting. Fill and frost with cream cheese frosting or caramel icing. If desired, sprinkle the top with additional chopped nuts to garnish.
  • *note: This cake is also good baked in a 9x13x2-inch baking dish and it is a lot easier! Cut the frosting recipe in half if you do it this way.
  • Cream Cheese Frosting: With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese one piece at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix until no lumps remain.
  • Makes 3 cups, enough frosting for one 2-layer 8- or 9-inch cake.
  • Caramel Icing (optional): Combine 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, the cream, and the salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Stir together the remaining 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small, heavy skillet (preferably one that has a pouring lip). Cook the sugar mixture over medium heat, without stirring, until it melts and turns an amber color, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the caramelized sugar to the simmering sugar and cream mixture a little at a time, stirring it up from the bottom (adding the caramelized sugar all at once will cause the mixture to boil over). Cook on medium heat until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (it will register 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer, and when a spoonful is dropped into a dish of very cold water, it will come together into a soft, malleable ball), about 10 minutes.
  • Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the butter and baking soda. Let cool slightly, or speed the process by placing the bottom of the saucepan in a pan of ice water and stirring constantly. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it begins to lose gloss but is still easy to spread, two to three minutes. (When frosting the cake, thin the caramel icing with a little more warm cream if it becomes too thick to spread.)

Mayonnaise functions as an emulsified fat and acid source in baking, delivering moisture and tenderness without requiring butter to be creamed into sugar during the initial mixing stage. Because store-bought emulsion consists of oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and eggs, it introduces both fat and moisture simultaneously, which protects the structure of dense fruit batters from drying out in the oven. This chemical composition yields a fine, uniform crumb that holds heavy additions like chopped fruit and nuts without sinking.

Coating peeled, cored tart apples, dark raisins, and toasted walnuts in a light dusting of flour prior to folding them into the batter prevents them from pooling at the bottom of the baking pan during the first fifteen minutes of heat exposure. The flour absorbs surface moisture from the fruit and creates a friction barrier against the surrounding batter. Tart varieties such as Granny Smith maintain their structural integrity and sharp flavor profile against the heavy sweetness of the surrounding crumb and toppings.

Assessing doneness requires evaluating both internal temperature and structural resistance since the heavy batter contains dense fruit chunks. Inserting a wooden skewer into the geometric center of the layer should yield no wet crumbs upon extraction, and the perimeter edges of the cake should visibly pull away from the metal sides of the pan by approximately one millimeter. Allowing the layers to cool completely on a wire rack before applying dairy-based frostings prevents fats from melting and sliding off the surface.

Substitutions must account for the dual role of the binder if modifications are necessary for dietary restrictions or pantry availability. Plain commercial yogurt or sour cream can replace the emulsified fat in equal volume, though bakers should expect a slightly tangier flavor profile and a marginally denser crumb structure. When opting for the caramel icing, monitoring the sugar mixture with a candy thermometer to precisely 240 degrees Fahrenheit ensures the finished spread achieves the proper soft-ball stage without crystallization.

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