Spiced apple wedding cake recipe

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for greasing
• 2¾ cups (344 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 large eggs
• 1¼ cups (250 g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (100 g) packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
• 1½ cups (354 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 large (600 g) Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and/or Fuji apples, cored and coarsely grated
• 2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger, about 2 inches

• 3½ cups (438 g) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
• Generous pinch kosher salt
• Two 8-ounce packages (453 g) cream cheese, at room temperature

• Edible flowers, dried apples, and/or candied nuts, for decoration (optional)

Make the Cake
1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms and sides with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and molasses together on medium speed until pale and thick, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually stream in the olive oil. Incorporate the flour mixture in three additions, mixing after each addition just until no dry bits of flour remain. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the apples and ginger. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
4. Bake the cakes for 30 minutes, rotate the pans, and continue to bake until a cake tester inserted into the centers of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes more. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let the cakes cool for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the wire rack. Let them cool completely, then stack them with their paper liners still attached (or new sheets of parchment in between each cake) and wrap in plastic. Freeze the cakes for 6 hours or overnight.
Make the Frosting
5. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Set aside.
6. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until it is very smooth and shiny and looks like mayonnaise, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vanilla and salt to the butter and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and gradually incorporate the confectioners’ sugar, beating the sugar and butter together until very fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium-high and add the cream cheese 1 tablespoon at a time. Once you’ve added all the cream cheese, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and then mix for 1 more minute.
Assemble the Cake
7. When you are ready to assemble and decorate the cake, remove the layers from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap. Use a serrated knife to cut each layer in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Place 1 layer of cake on a serving plate or cake board and spread a generous scoop of frosting to the edge of the cake.
8. Place your second cake layer on top of the first and repeat with the frosting. Continue with the third and fourth layers. When you have placed the top layer on the cake, gently press down on the center of the cake just a little bit.
9. Scoop a generous spoonful of frosting onto the top layer and spread it out and down the sides. Repeat until you have covered the cake, then swoosh and swirl the frosting however you’d like, or scrape the sides down to reveal the sides of the cake, creating a “naked cake” look. Decorate with edible flowers, dried apples, and/or candied nuts as you wish.
10. The cake keeps well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.