This Old-School Cake Is A Fall-Worthy Treat That Dates Back To The 1800s

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Apples and spices are a quintessential autumnal taste combination. The best apples for baking will enliven your fall pies, but you don't need whole fruit for the vintage American treat known as a cider cake. All you really need, in addition to standard cake ingredients, is apple cider, as the name implies. Cider cake rose to prominence in the mid- to late 1700s when fledgling Americans fell in love with recipes for butter cake but substituted widely available hard cider (made of fermented apple juice) for pricier European imports like brandy. One vintage recipe, as released by the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, used flour, sugar, butter, cider, and "pearlash," an old-school analogue of baking soda.

Cider cake toppled from prominence in the early 1900s due to the suddenly problematic nature of its boozy main ingredient in the face of Prohibition. Some zealots reportedly went so far as to chop down apple trees so that their fruit couldn't be brewed into the offending spirit! The Shaker religious sect preserved the recipe, however, and some folks moved to baking cider cakes with either fresh apple juice or applesauce — which, unlike liquor, only lasts so long once opened. Like election cake, a forgotten confection baked to encourage voters, cider cake has colonial roots, a reliance on warming spices, and a dense crumb. It comes together easily in modern-day kitchens, and, while we can't exactly jump in a time machine and prove it, we bet that it tastes just as good as it did back then as well!

Many modern cider cakes are baked for under an hour in a round cake pan at 350 degrees. The batter you put in there, however, may vary. Will you use fresh cider or the spiked kind, which is more bubbly and not as sweet? Note that fresh cider is simply raw apple juice without the pulp removed. Some recipes call for white sugar, while others rely on brown, which contains molasses and therefore has more dimension of flavor. Many preparations call for cinnamon, which we consider to be an indispensable vessel for autumnal taste (we like single-origin Vietnamese cinnamon for its strong spiciness). You might also see rosewater, raisins, nutmeg, cloves, and even additional applesauce added to amp up the fruity flavor. Tweak the inclusions at your own discretion, and be ready to adjust the baking time if there's more "stuff" in the batter.

How will you top your cake? The simplest cider cakes are lightly dusted with powdered sugar, but you need not stop there. A drizzle of salted caramel will give candy apple vibes and enhance those beloved fall flavors. For more of a true "cake" experience, whip up some homemade buttercream and spike it with maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, or ginger. Maybe top it with some crushed walnuts or a layer of streusel for a crunchy addition. No matter how you finish it, cider cake is bound to become your new favorite.