Apple Stack Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 16 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups apple butter
• Confectioners’ sugar for garnish (if you want)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Set rack to middle position. Butter and flour pans (I use three pans at one time). In a bowl of a standing mixer, mix sugar, brown sugar, and butter together at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy. Set aside for now. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set this aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
2. Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix to combine on medium-low speed. Now add 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and mix to combine. Repeat adding another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining buttermilk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture.
3. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead four times to bring it all together. Roll into an even cylinder about 18 inches long. Cut the cylinder into six equal parts (each about 3 inches long). Press each part into a disk, and wrap all six disk parts separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a 10-inch circle (use a light sprinkling of flour if it begins to stick). Using a cake pan as a guide, trim the dough into a perfect 9-inch circle and lay it in a pan to bake. Repeat with two more cake pans and two more pieces of dough. Bake all three, rotating the pans as they bake, until the layers are lightly golden brown and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the pans for about 10 minutes. Remove layers and set them aside. When the pans are cool, butter and flour them again, and repeat the rolling, cutting, and baking with the last three disks of dough.
5. Assemble the cake: Choose the prettiest, smoothest layer for the top, and set it aside. Choose your bottom layer, and using a spatula, spread 1/2 cup of apple butter over the top, all the way to the edges. Top with another cake layer and another 1/2 cup of apple butter. Repeat three more times, then top with the prettiest layer. I cover the top layer also with apple butter. Put the cake in a cake saver with a lid and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. If you would like to sprinkle the top with confectioners’ sugar, you can.