Cream Cheese Apple Cake

Cream Cheese Apple Cake

Oven Temperature: 350 Degrees

Prep. Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time:  1 Hour 15 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There was a time when I was younger that I absolutely adored apples. I would have at least one apple every day. Then again, I would always have some sort of caramel chocolate with it. After all, who doesn't like the stellar combo of apples and caramel? Now that I'm older, I find that I have to actually crave an apple. Yes, I have weird random cravings. Lately, those random cravings have been showing up a lot more often. I was craving apples, but not in a typical Apple Pie. Of course, I just had to find a recipe that had apples, and it was a must that I bake something. You see, finding a recipe is usually what takes me forever. Believe it or not, the actual baking takes less time. Maybe it's because I'm OCD and like to obsess over researching every aspect and reading every comment. It takes a lot for me to actually try a recipe. I finally found one that satisfied me on One Perfect Bite. This blog is truly amazing. I don't link to original recipes often, but this is definitely a blog you should check out. Such thought and time are put into each and every recipe and post, it's definitely worth the time. Anyways, I read and re read the recipe and went over every detail. Then I got to work. The results, stellar. Absolutely phenomenal. Impeccable.

This apple cake is just one of a kind. The cake itself is slightly dense with the perfect crumb to it. It's moist and velvety and the apples add a beautifully soft bite. You get the slight hint of cinnamon and the richness from the cream cheese. This cake just has the most amazing texture. Try it out. It does take a little extra prep time, but the result is definitely worth it.

Ingredients:

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Cup Butter (Softened)
12 oz. Cream Cheese (Softened)
2 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/4 lbs. Apples (Peeled and Diced)
Powdered Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two (9 x 5 x 2-inch) loaf pans or a 10 Cup Tube Pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
Put butter, cream cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat ingredients on medium-high speed until mixture is very light in color (almost white) and texture is fluffy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl once during the process to insure that butter is evenly incorporated. Crack eggs into a liquid measure and add vanilla. With mixer on low speed, slowly pour mixture into bowl allowing eggs to fall in one at a time. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients on low speed; stop mixing as soon as flour is incorporated. Fold apples in by hand using a stiff spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan. Place pans in the middle of the oven and bake 60-75 minutes rotating pans halfway through baking time. When cake is finished, a wooden skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. Allow cakes to cool 15 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely and cover with a thick dusting of powdered sugar.