Ingredients
for the cake
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups peeled and finely diced apples
for the frosting
- 8 ounces Vermont Creamery mascarpone cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- candied ginger pieces, for topping cake (optional)
- fall-like branches (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 6″ cake pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together sugar, molasses, and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Carefully fold dry ingredients into wet until mostly combined.
- Fold in apples. Distribute batter evenly into prepared pans (1 1/2 cups of batter per pan).
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- To make frosting, whip mascarpone in a standing mixer on high speed for 1 minute. Lower speed and add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract, ginger, and salt, mixing until combined.
- Place the first layer of cake onto a cake stand, then top with a heaping ½ cup of frosting. Spread to edges, smoothing evenly. Repeat with second and third layer.
- Add remaining frosting to sides of cake, then use a cake scraper or flat cake knife to smooth frosting out around edges.
- Top cake with candied ginger pieces and fall-like branches. I chose purple/green branches with small buds on them!
