A simple spice cake laden with fresh apples, this dessert can be made in no time. If guava jam is not easily found in your area, feel free to substitute plum, cherry or any preserves you have on hand. It’s also a terrific brunch cake that begs for a great cup of coffee.
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 10 min |
Ingredients
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 4 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped (about 4 to 6 apples)
- 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup guava jam
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 5 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Whip eggs until frothy, about 3 to 4 minutes then add oil and orange juice and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and beat with whip at low speed until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in apples and walnuts and pour into prepared cake pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until firm on top. Cover with aluminum foil if top gets too brown. Cool on rack 5 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely. Serve with guava cream cheese topping spread over the top.
- Mash all ingredients in a bowl with a fork until light and fluffy.
Reviews
The recipe calls for too many apples and therefore causes the cake to be really dense and too moist. The taste was alright but the outside of the cake was close to burnt and the inside of the cake was like a bread pudding.
Loved the recipe although I’d change a few things. I’d use 2 to 3 apples and maybe a bit less lime juice in the frosting. The volume of apples made the cake so moist that it fell apart and could not be sliced evenly. I also had trouble with the pan size. The cake spilled over in the oven. I should have used less batter and used my cupcake pan for the balance. I still got rave reviews in our United Way bake-off and my children loved it!
I’m trying to connect with a reviewer named Aryn who made some changes to this recipe namely decreasing the amount of sugar to 1/2 C. & adding 1/2 C. of honey. She also only used 2 apples & baked it in a bundt pan for approximately 40 minutes. I don’t have a 10 inch cake pan & would also like to bake it in a bundt pan. Would Aryn please respond to this & has anyone else who made it used a bundt pan. If so, how did it turn out? Thanks.
To make this into a great cake for Rosh Hashanah, I use only 1/2 cup sugar and then about 1/2 cup of honey. This combo cuts down on the sweetness as well as adds a little more moisture, thanks to the honey. I also only used two apples, and that seems fine. Lastly, I bake the cake in a bunt pan for about 40 minutes. I’ve made it several times now, and it turns out perfectly every time.
Most of us thought there were to many apples, causing it to be too moist. We would suggest to cut back on the apples, or double the batter and keep the same amount of apples. The pan size in the recipe is to small for the amount of batter. Overall we thought it tasted very good, and we enjoyed it.
I’ve made this cake several times and it IS good. I use dark brown sugar tho as it reminds me of a cake my grandma used to make. She served it warm w/hard sauce. I didn’t use the jam either. The cream cheese works just fine & sometimes I’ve not put anything on it & served it warm w/whipped cream or ice-cream. Everyone loves it1
I’ve been making this cake since for many years. I found it in a book called “Cantina.” Every time I’ve made it, it has been a huge hit. It’s a little effort because of the apples, but well worth the small expense of an apple corer/peeler to speed things up a bit. The cake is very moist and flavorful. The guava jam in the cream cheese topping is just perfect with the apple, walnut, and spice of the cake.
I have served this cake at several party’s and it is always a huge hit!
This recipe is hot it great for the family and the kids just love it …
This recipe is a bit time consuming (peeling and chopping apples takes me a while), but the result is a delicious and seemingly healthy treat. I skipped the glaze so that the apples were the focus of flavor. The only down-side was that my cake stuck to my pan and was a real mess. I used shortening liberally, but I’ll try butter next time. Luckily, I wasn’t serving it to anyone, so it didn’t matter how ugly it looked!