Apple Spice Layer Cake

When I asked my husband what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, I wasn't terribly surprised when he said apple spice.  Apple is one of his favorite flavors--hence why it is featured so prominently on this blog--and a he knew I would make him a good cake.  The problem was finding a recipe for this good cake.  I scoured the internet and my cookbooks and came up with one recipe that fit my specifications (layer cake, no nuts, something that didn't have 12 comments proclaiming it very rich).  The recipe I was left with was one I had made before and was completely underwhelmed by as it was an apple spice cake that tasted nothing like apple or spice.  Needless to say, I ended up making up this recipe instead.  The cake itself is moist, dense, and wonderfully flavorful.  The filling I added because I thought actual pieces of apple would up the flavor.  The frosting was to bring all these flavors together and to add another dimension.  The result tastes a lot like a cross between apple pie and cake; completely heavenly.  Note: I made my own applesauce for this, but any unsweetened applesauce could probably be substituted.  I just wanted to make sure the flavor of my applesauce really was powerful, which I could control if I made my own.

Makes 8- or 9-inch layer cake

1/4 cup brown sugar
Dash cinnamon
3 apples, skinned, cored and chopped (I used Jonagold)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup water
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3 1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup sour cream
Apple Filling
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In small saucepan, stir apple pieces with the 1/4 cup brown sugar and dash cinnamon.  Add lemon juice and a few tablespoons of the water.  Bring to a simmer and cover, cooking until apples are soft (about 5 minutes).  Remove lid and simmer until apples begin to break down, adding more water as needed to keep it from scorching.  This simmering may take as much as 30 minutes, but just keep adding water and stirring occasionally until apples break down into a very thick sauce.  You should have about 1 1/2 cups sauce.  Remove from heat and refrigerate until you are ready to use.
2. In medium bowl, measure flour.  Add baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg.  Whisk to evenly distribute and set aside.
3. Grease and flour two layer cake pans, 8 or 9 inches each.  Set aside.
4. In bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter a few seconds to loosen.  Add the 2/3 cup brown sugar and the white sugar.  Beat well, scraping sides of the bowl as needed.  Add eggs one-at-a-time and beat well between eggs.  Beat in vanilla and molasses.  Scrape bowl and add 1/3 of the flour mixture.  Stir until combined.  Mix in 1/2 of the sour cream, then another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the remaining sour cream and flour.  This will alternate flour and sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.  Stir in applesauce.
5. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.  You will need to smooth the batter with a spatula or knife to make sure it is even in the pans.  Bake cake layers in 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of each layer comes out clean.  Cool 20 minutes in pans, then remove to cool completely on a cooling rack.  Cool completely before assembling cake.
6. Place about 1/2 cup frosting in a piping bag or baggie.  Cut corner off baggie or use wide round tip.  Place one cake layer on serving plate and pipe a rim around the top of the layer with your baggie or piping bag.  This frosting will act as a dam to hold the apple filling in place.  Pour apple filling on top of cake layer and smooth to distribute apple pieces evenly.  Place second cake layer on top of filling, making sure to center it.  Frost top and sides of cake with frosting, using as thin a coating of frosting as possible.  Refrigerate cake until frosting is hard, about 30 minutes.  Frost cold cake with remaining frosting, smoothing as desired.  Decorate as desired or leave plain.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  Cake can be stored, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days.