Apple Rose Cake

This Apple Rose Cake is an old favorite that I’ve shared more than once on Instagram, but somehow it never made its way onto the website.

The cake itself is simple: a soft vanilla cake topped with thin slices of Honeycrisp apples tossed with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Arranging the apples in overlapping circles gives you that beautiful rose effect without requiring any actual decorating skills.

And because I can’t leave well enough alone, the whole thing gets brushed with a warm honey syrup as soon as it comes out of the oven. It gives the apples a gorgeous glossy finish and adds just enough honey sweetness.

It’s particularly good for Rosh Hashanah, but really this is the kind of apple cake I’d make all fall.

Apple Rose Cake

Makes: One 9-inch cake

Bake: 350°F for approximately 1 hour

For the apples

3 Honeycrisp apples

4 tablespoons light brown sugar

1½ tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened

1¼ cups granulated sugar

⅔ cup whole milk

For the honey syrup

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon water

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Thinly slice the apples. Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, then toss with the apple slices until evenly coated. Cover and microwave for about 2 minutes, just until the apples have softened enough to bend without breaking. Set aside.

For the cake, beat the softened butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture in batches, alternating with the milk, and mix just until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Arrange the softened apple slices over the batter in overlapping concentric circles, beginning around the outside edge and working your way toward the center to create a rose.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cake is still warm, combine the honey, sugar and water and heat briefly in the microwave until the sugar dissolves. Brush generously over the apples and top of the cake.

Allow to cool before removing from the pan and serving.

A couple of notes

Slice the apples quite thinly—that’s what allows them to overlap and curl into the rose shape. And don’t skip the quick microwave step; slightly softened apples are much easier to arrange and are less likely to snap.