Fresh Milled Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Buttercream

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What better way to kick off your fresh milled flour fall baking than with this Fresh Milled Apple Cake topped with luxuriously rich Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting! Loaded with apples and hints of cinnamon, our fresh milled cake is perfectly moist and doesn’t require sifting – even with 100% fresh milled flour. Serve this cake with a hot cup of coffee and share with family and friends.

an up close shot of a slice of fresh milled flour apple cake on a plate with apples in the background

Fresh Milled Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Buttercream

Yield: 9x13 Pan
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

This Fresh Milled Apple Cake is a deliciously easy dessert for fall. This cake can be served by itself, dusted with powdered sugar, or topped with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting.

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Ingredients

Fresh Milled Apple Cake

  • 310 Grams Soft White Wheat*
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Real Salt
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder*
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/3 Cup + 4 Tablespoons Butter, softened
  • 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 Cups Plain Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 Cup Whole Milk
  • 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Cups Peeled & Diced Apples (3 Large Apples)

Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 Cup Butter, softened
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Tablespoons Half & Half or Milk
  • 4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Instructions

  1. To Make Fresh Milled Apple Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan with oil or butter.
  2. Weigh out 310 grams of soft white wheat and mill into a medium sized mixing bowl. Into the fresh milled flour whisk in 1/2 teaspoon real salt, 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoons baking soda, and 1/2 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Set these ingredients aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. This makes a homemade buttermilk. Set this mixture aside.
  4. In another medium sized mixing bowl, cream together 1/3 cup + 4 Tablespoons softened butter, 3/4 Cup granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract. Then whip in 2 eggs. After eggs are whipped in, stir in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt.
  5. Next fold in flour mixture. After flour is incorporated, fold in 2 cups of peeled and diced apples. Then stir in milk and apple cider vinegar mixture. Batter will be thin. Allow cake batter to sit for 5 minutes. This allows the fresh milled flour to absorb some moisture.
  6. After 5 minutes, spread cake batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake Fresh Milled Apple Cake for 30-35 minutes or until top is slightly firm but has a spring to the touch. Allow cake to cook completely. Setting the pan on top of a wire rack will help to speed up the cooling process because it allows airflow underneath.
  7. After cake has cooled, prepare Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting. NOTE: This cake does not necessarily have to be frosted. It can be enjoyed without frosting or even dusted with some powdered sugar before serving.
  8. To Make Brown Sugar Buttercream: In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup brown sugar with 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract, and 1 Tablespoon of Half & Half. Stir this together and let it sit while you prep the butter. This helps the brown sugar to begin dissolving.
  9. In a medium sized mixing bowl, use a hand held mixer to whip 1 cup of softened butter. Next, add brown sugar mixture and whip this with the softened butter until brown sugar has dissolved. Scrape down the sides occasionally to make sure you are incorporating all the sugar. It will take a few minutes of whisking for the brown sugar to dissolve.
  10. Once brown sugar is dissolved, add 4 cups of powdered sugar and the remaining 1 Tablespoon of half & half. Whip the ingredients together until the powdered sugar has been incorporated.
  11. Frost cake, slice, and enjoy! Store Fresh Milled Apple Cake in the refrigerator and consume within 3 days. Cake can also be stored in the freezer in a freezer safe container and then defrosted for future enjoyment.

Notes

*Why do you weigh your grains in grams? We have found that this is such an easy way to mill the exact amount of grains you will need instead of guessing how many cups of grains to mill for the amount of flour needed.

*We love using Homemade Baking Powder for the fluffiest baked goods.

How to make the BEST Fresh Milled Flour Apple Cake With Frosting

Fall officially arrived last week after our first hard freeze. Thankfully, we had an advance warning and wrapped up all of our garden harvesting in the nick of time! It’s sad to see the gardening year end, but we can look around in thankfulness for all the year produced.

Our apple tree produced very abundantly this year meaning we have pounds of apples shoved in every available refrigerator crisper. This also means there are a lot of apple desserts in our future and I don’t think any of our family members are mad about it. Especially if it means they get to enjoy more desserts like this apple cake with fresh milled flour. Not only is the cake incredibly moist and wonderful but that brown sugar buttercream has us drooling for more!

So gather the family around and make sure everyone has a steaming cup of coffee in hand, or perhaps chai tea for those tea lovers. And serve up a slice of this Fresh Milled Apple Cake, which you will definitely enjoy on a chilly fall evening.

Key features in this Fresh Milled Cinnamon Apple Cake:

  • The easiest fresh milled fall dessert! If you’re looking for a dessert that says fall without a lot of heavy lifting, this apple cake is it!
  • A MOIST Fresh Milled Cake even without sifting- fresh milled flour requires a little extra love and moisture so that the final product is perfectly moist. You’ll notice when making this recipe that the batter is thinner. This is because fresh milled flour absorbs a lot of liquid. We’ve added yogurt and milk to keep our cake the perfect texture.
  • Loaded with cinnamon and apple flavor, each bite contains a sweet apple chunk and hints of cinnamon. Dust the top of the frosted cake with cinnamon for some added spice and decoration.
  • Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting…need I say more? Yes, this frosting has actual brown sugar whipped into the frosting. No, it’s not grainy either! Instead, the buttercream is wonderfully rich with caramel molasses flavor that pairs perfectly with this fresh milled apple cake.
  • If for some strange reason you don’t want to enjoy this cake with luxurious Brown Sugar Buttercream, feel free to leave the cake unfrosted or dust it with powdered sugar before serving for a simpler dessert.

How to make a moist fresh milled cake every time:

Maybe you’re feeling a little worried that this fresh milled cake will disappoint you and be dry and crumbly or maybe even dense like others you’ve made? Well, if you haven’t tried our Fresh Milled Vanilla Cake or Fresh Milled Pumpkin Cake then let me assure you…there is no need to worry.

What’s the secret to a moist fresh milled cake? Liquid + fat! We’ve found that fresh milled flour loves to absorb liquid and if there’s not enough in the cake, well…it’s going to result in a dry cake. You may find that when you make this recipe the cake batter seems a little thinner than usual. Not to worry. The yogurt and extra milk ensures a moist and fluffy cake every time.

Don’t forget the WHY behind fresh milled baking!

We always think it’s important to remind our readers to get back to the why of fresh milled flour recipes.

Maybe your why is because you desire to make wholesome, from scratch food for you family in your own kitchen. Or after being gluten free for years you realized you could enjoy grains in their whole form. Maybe you learned of the amazing health benefits of fresh milled grains. Or maybe it’s all of the above!

We easily get lost in the noise of the internet. But as women, wives, and mothers let’s get back to kitchens and homes that provide not just wholesome food for our families, but also delicious food that satisfies our deepest needs for nourishment. Our kitchens can be reminders of our deeper spiritual needs- Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35


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Ingredients needed to make Fresh Milled Apple Cake:

For the Fresh Milled Apple Cake-

For the Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting-

Recommended Kitchen Tools

Step-by-Step Instructions for How To Make The Best Fresh Milled Apple Cake With Brown Sugar Buttercream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking pan with oil or butter.

Mill soft white wheat into a medium sized mixing bowl. Into the fresh milled flour whisk in real salt, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Set these ingredients aside. In a small bowl, combine milk with apple cider vinegar. Set this aside as well.

In another medium sized mixing bowl, cream together softened butter, granulated sugar, and real vanilla extract. Next whip in the eggs and then whip in plain yogurt.

Now fold in the flour mixture. After the flour is incorporated, fold in peeled and diced apples. Then stir in the milk and apple cider vinegar mixture. Allow cake batter to sit for 5 minutes. This allows the fresh milled flour to absorb some moisture.

After 5 minutes, spread cake batter into a greased 9×13 pan and bake Fresh Milled Apple Cake for 30-35 minutes.

After cake has cooled, prepare Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting. NOTE: This cake does not necessarily have to be frosted. It can be enjoyed without frosting or even dusted with some powdered sugar before serving.

To make the frosting: in a small bowl combine brown sugar with real vanilla extract and Half & Half. Stir this together and let it sit while you prep the butter. This helps the brown sugar to begin dissolving.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, use a hand held mixer to whip softened butter. Next, add the brown sugar mixture and whip this with the softened butter until the brown sugar has dissolved. Once the brown sugar is dissolved, add the powdered sugar and the remaining half & half. Whip the ingredients together until the powdered sugar has been incorporated.

Frost cake, slice, and enjoy! We love dusting our cake with cinnamon for a little extra spice and decoration. Store Fresh Milled Apple Cake in the refrigerator and consume within 3 days. Fresh Milled Apple Cake also freezes well in a freezer safe container.

From scratch kitchen tips

  • Do I have to frost this Fresh Milled Apple Cake? No, if you want to skip the extra step of making frosting (although we highly recommend it!) this cake can be served plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar before serving, or with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.
  • What type of apple works best for this apple cake? Whatever apples you have on hand! We try to keep things simple around here. However, a crisp and sweet apple is always best.
  • Do I need to cook the apples before adding them to this cake? No need to cook the apples before folding them into the fresh milled apple cake batter. But please make sure they are peeled!
  • What is the best way to store Fresh Milled Apple Cake? This cake stores well in the refrigerator and should be consumed within at least 3 days. It also freezes well for future enjoyment.

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