This post and recipe was created for #AppleWeek! I was sent products by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine. #ad

Celebrate fall with this gorgeous Apple Cinnamon Layer Cake, piled high with a brown butter streusel and cinnamon spice buttercream.

Hi friends and welcome to day two of #AppleWeek! First things first - have you entered the giveaway yet? What are you waiting for?? Go do that right now! Now that that's done... I am sharing one of my beloved mini layer cakes all dressed up for the occasion. This Apple Cinnamon Layer Cake with Brown Butter Streusel is packed with fresh apple chunks, covered in a cinnamon spice buttercream, and sprinkled with some irresistible brown butter oats. The little caramel drips are just well, the cherry on top! I told you yesterday that the caramel for the galette would come in handy somewhere else! 😉

So let's talk about today's sponsors - I have quite a few! I used Rodelle Vanilla in the cake, Flahavan's oats in the streusel, and this beautiful Swiss Diamond paring knife to chop up my apples! I also used apple pie spice from The Spice House in the cake and buttercream... but to be honest, that spice mix ended up in basically all of my #AppleWeek recipes anyway! It is so rich and flavorful and works so well with apples in any way, shape, or form.

Okay so I have to be honest. One of the main reasons I made an apple cinnamon layer cake for #AppleWeek is because, of course, I just love this style of cake. But the other reason I keep posting cakes like this is because I hope you guys will realize they're not that hard to make! I PROMISE. This particular cake does have a few elements going on, with the main cake of course, buttercream, streusel, and caramel. But you don't have to do it all if you feel like it's too much. You can easily buy caramel from the store and use cake mix! I will pretty much always advise you to make frosting from scratch because it takes like, two minutes, tastes way better, and it behaves SO differently than store-bought frosting for decorating! If you want better odds of your cake turning out beautiful, just make the frosting yourself. 😉

I hope you guys make this adorable apple cinnamon layer cake sometime this fall! It is so full of warm, comforting flavors and it turned out absolutely delicious. I hope you love it as much as we did! 🙂

Looking for more itty bitty layer cakes? Check out my Vegan Lemon Curd Layer Cake, Vegan Fig & Dark Chocolate Layer Cake, Confetti Layer Cake, Gender Reveal Piñata Layer Cake, and (because it's almost Halloween!) Cookies & Cream Halloween Layer Cake!

Looking for the recipe for the caramel drip? Find it HERE.

Print Recipe

apple cinnamon layer cake with brown butter streusel #AppleWeek

Celebrate fall with this gorgeous Apple Cinnamon Layer Cake, piled high with a brown butter streusel and cinnamon spice buttercream.

Prep Time1

Cook Time45

Total Time1 45

Course: Cakes

Servings: 12

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup {½ stick} unsalted butter softened
2 eggs
⅓ cup sour cream
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Rodelle vanilla extract
1 tablespoon The Spice House apple pie spice
⅔ cup whole milk
1 large apple peeled, cored, and diced small
*for the brown butter streusel*
¼ cup {½ stick} unsalted butter softened
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup Flahavan's oats
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon The Spice House apple pie spice
*for the buttercream frosting*
1 ½ cups {3 sticks} unsalted butter softened
6 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoon whole milk as needed
1 teaspoon Rodelle vanilla extract
1 teaspoon The Spice House apple pie spice
pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F, and butter & flour two 6" cake pans.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and apple pie spice. Add in the butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sour cream, and Rodelle vanilla, and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
Pour in the milk, and beat on medium-low until smooth and creamy. Finally, stir in the apple pieces.
Divide batter evenly among the two pans, and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cakes cool completely before decorating.
While you wait on the cakes, prepare the brown butter streusel.
First, brown the butter. Place the ½ stick of butter in a small nonstick pot, and heat over medium. After the butter melts, it will start bubbling and foaming. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until it turns a light golden brown and starts to smell toasted and nutty. Remove immediately from heat to avoid burning. Stir in the brown sugar and apple pie spice, then add in Flahavan's oats and flour. Mixture will be a little clumpy! Set aside for now.
When ready to assemble, prepare the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until fully incorporated. Add in some milk as needed if it's too thick. Finally, mix in the vanilla, apple pie spice, and pinch of salt.
To assemble the cake, divide the 2 cake layers in half to create 4 thin layers. Place one cake piece on your cake stand or platter, and pipe frosting all over. Smooth with an offset spatula if desired and sprinkle on some of the streusel mixture. Repeat with all.
Pipe frosting all over the outside of the cake, and smooth using a bench scraper. Decorate around the top using a large star 1M tip and sprinkle additional streusel in the center. If desired, decorate the outside with some caramel drips. Place prepared caramel in a squeeze bottle, and apply where you'd like. Serve immediately or store in fridge until needed. Enjoy!

Here are the other blogger creations for today!