Apple Butterscotch Snack Cake

Baked and ready to serve in under an hour, but it's the brown sugar frosting for me.

Hi Bakers!

If you are looking for a quick, accessible, and super delicious treat this fall, let this Apple Butterscotch Snack Cake be the one you make on repeat all season long. When the craving strikes, you can be sitting down eating a warm slice of this apple-studded cake within the hour.

My daughter recently asked to have a baking day. She typically has elaborate ideas for frosted sugar cookies and sprinkle cupcakes, but our time together (uninterrupted by baby naps and soccer practice) doesn’t always allow for such whimsical bakes. We settled on a Texas sheet cake, subbing sprinkles for the toasted nuts. Finished and frosted in under an hour, she was thrilled.

I got to thinking - how can a cake so quick and easy be so delicious? And how can I make something similar for fall?

I love decorative layer cakes and find so much joy in creating the recipes for our Birthday Cake Club. But for everyday snacking, I crave something much more simple. Less buttercream, fewer layers, and so much less fuss.

This cake ticks off all the boxes for a simple snacking cake:

• moist

• full of flavor

• baked and frosted within an hour

• minimal pans/dishes

• mostly pantry staple ingredients

The cake batter comes together without a mixer and bakes up quickly in a quarter sheet pan. The butterscotch frosting is cooked on the stove while the cake finishes and cools. Spread and swirl on the frosting then serve straight from the pan!

I love this old fashioned frosting. It tastes of brown sugar caramel and has a candy, fudge-like texture that reminds me of the filling of Bordeaux See’s Candy.

Also known as penuche, the frosting starts by melting butter and brown sugar. The two are cooked together on the stove for just a couple of minutes, like making butterscotch. Sifted confectioners’ sugar thickens the frosting so that it can be swirled about. The frosting sets as it cools and has a crackle finish when sliced.

Let’s get to the recipe!