I love a good fall dessert. Growing up my mom would bake an apple cake with cream cheese frosting. It was something she knew by heart and took to many occasions. I also love to bake with apples in the fall. Pumpkin is my other go to. Yet, I had never thought to put them together until recently. So, if you want an amazingly moist and full of flavor cake to share with others this fall, volunteer to bake this pumpkin apple cake with bourbon cream cheese frosting. You won’t regret it and your friends will rave.

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What makes this cake special?

This pumpkin apple cake is really a treat.

There are a whole 3 cups of apples in this cake. Along with the 2 cups of pumpkin, this cake is really moist and delicious.

A friend who declared that she detests pumpkin gladly asked me for the recipe for the cake after tasting it and not realizing it had pumpkin in it. It isn’t overly pumpkin in flavor due to the sweet apples.

The other part that makes it extra special is the bourbon and nutmeg in the cream cheese frosting. Those two ingredients just give the cake a little dose of fall warmth.

Ingredients

For the Cake:
1 cup oil (I use avocado or lard)
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of pumpkin puree or 1 15 oz can of pumpkin
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 cups apples (2-4 apples depending on size) peeled and diced small

For the Frosting:
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
16 oz. confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (bourbon kind from Trader Joe’s is perfect)
1-2 teaspoons bourbon

Directions to make the Apple Pumpkin Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 by 13 pan.
You can use a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer.
Add the oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin to the bowl and mix up.
When everything is mixed up, add in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until everything is incorporated.
Fold in the apples.
Pour the batter into a 9 by 13 pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Make sure the middle of the cake is cooked through. There are a lot of apples and it will be moist, but should not jiggle in the middle.

Step by Step – Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.
Slowly add in the sugar.
Add the nutmeg and vanilla.
Last, add in the bourbon slowly until it is creamy and good for spreading.
If you do not want to add the bourbon, you can use milk in this step.
Spread on the cake when it is completely cooled down.

Tips and variations for a Successful Pumpkin Apple Cake

This cake is best with sweet varieties of apples. I used Gala and Pink Lady, but would use most anything that isn’t too tart. You don’t want to use Granny Smith.
You could also shred the apples instead of chopping them up if you would rather have the apples be less conspicuous.
The cake can be eaten without the frosting if you would prefer it to be less rich and sweet.
This cake is best kept in the fridge after the first day out.