Amish Applesauce Cake

Amish applesauce cake is a dense, moist, old-fashioned sheet-cake made with warm spices, raisins, and walnuts. Bake at 350°F until the crumb sets and a toothpick comes out clean, then finish with a simple powdered sugar dusting.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings: 12 servings

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 360

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp cloves
0.5 tsp allspice
0.25 tsp nutmeg
0.5 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

0.5 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
0.5 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix-ins

1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped

Topping

Powdered sugar for dusting

Equipment

1 sheet pan

Method

Prep and preheat

Preheat oven to 350F, then grease a 9x13 baking pan so the cake releases cleanly.
Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt together until the spices are evenly distributed.

Mix the batter

Beat butter and both sugars until fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed for an even texture.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until incorporated, keeping the mixture smooth.
Stir in applesauce, then fold in the flour mixture until just combined with no visible dry streaks (do not overmix).
Fold in raisins and walnuts so they’re suspended through the batter.

Bake and finish

Bake 40-45 minutes at 350F until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely on the pan, then dust with powdered sugar before serving for a light finish.

Notes

Pro tip: fold the flour mixture just until combined to keep the crumb dense and moist. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze slices up to 2 months. For a dairy-free swap, use a 1:1 dairy-free butter substitute (softened) to keep the cake’s structure.