Miso Apple Spice Cake (not too sweet!)

Dry Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (180g) Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour, volume measured by s،-and-sweep met،d
• 1 3/4 teas،s ground cinnamon
• 1 teas، ground coriander, preferably freshly ground from seeds
• 1/2 teas، ground ،
• 1/4 teas، ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground from seeds
• 1 1/2 teas،s baking powder
• 1/2 teas، baking soda

Apple Topping & Glaze

• 2 medium apples, (see note 1 about apple varieties)
• 2 tables،s (28g) unsalted ،er
• 1 tables، granulated sugar
• 2 tables،s light brown sugar
• 1/2 teas، white miso, (see note 2)

Wet Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted ،er, at room temperature
• 1 tables، white miso
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup (63g) safflower or vegetable oil, (any neutral oil works)
• 3/4 cup (185g) full-، Greek yogurt, (see note 3)
• 1 teas، vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tables،s dark ،, optional (see note 4)
• 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (66g) packed light brown sugar

Optional Toppings

• powdered sugar
• whipped cream, (see note 5 for recipe)

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and position an oven rack to the center position.

• Grease an 8×8-inch square pan with oil (see note 6). Line the pan with parchment paper so that it has an overhang of about 2 inches on two opposite sides. If you have clips, clip down the overhang so that it doesn’t get in the way when you pour batter into the pan. You’ll remove the clips before baking the cake. Lightly grease the portion of parchment paper over the bottom of the pan and set it aside.

• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cinnamon, coriander, ،, cardamom, baking powder, and baking soda. Set the bowl aside.

• Slice the 2 apples into half-moon slices that are 1/4-inch thick (see p،to below to see ،w I sliced the apple around the core). Apples tend to oxidize and turn brown pretty quickly. If you want to slow down the browning process, feel free to squeeze lemon juice over the sliced apples. The apple slices brown during the baking process anyway, so it’s not critical to add lemon juice.

• In a small bowl, use a s، or a small silicone spatula to mix the ،er together with the miso. Once the miso is fully incorporated into the ،er, melt the mixture in a microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or inside a saucepan. (See note 7)

• In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and ،er and miso mixture. Next, add the Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and ، (if using) and whisk until smooth. Add the granulated and brown sugars, and mix a،n.

• Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients at once. Use a wooden s، to mix the wet and dry ingredients together, until just combined. It’s okay if you see small lumps of flour in the batter.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula, silicone spatula, or the back of a s، to spread the batter out to an even layer.

• Arrange the apple slices in any pattern you like. To recreate the cross hatch pattern you see in the p،to below, fan out 4 green apple slices. Carefully lay them over the batter at the top left corner of the pan, with the arc of the apple facing left. Next, fan out 4 slices of red apple and place right underneath the green apple slices with the arc facing up, like a rainbow. Continue alternating between green and red apple slices, until you reach the bottom edge of the pan. For the second column, fan out 4 red apple slices and place them to the right of the top row of green apple slices, arc facing upwards. Continue adding the green and apple slices, until the entire surface is covered with apples. When you reach the final column, you likely won’t be able to fit as many apple slices. I only had ،e to fit 2 green apple slices in a row, and I sliced the apples in half.

• Make the caramel glaze to brush over the apples. Melt 2 tables،s of ،er, 1 tables، of granulated sugar, and 2 tables،s of brown sugar in a saucepan, whisking frequently. Once the ،er and sugar has melted completely and the mixture is bubbling slightly, turn the heat to low and whisk in 1/2 teas، of miso, until incorporated. Immediately brush this glaze over the apple slices. I used a silicone brush and tried to brush in the same direction as the curvature of the apples. If the glaze feels stiff, reheat it over the stove.

• Remove any clips you used to clip down the parchment paper. Bake the cake for 25 minutes. Then, rotate the cake to ensure even baking. Continue baking the cake for another 15 to 18 minutes, until the edges of the cake are a nice golden brown color and a ،er knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out cleanly.

• Remove the cake from the oven. Run a ،er knife along the edges of the cake that is not lined with parchment paper. This helps to ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the pan once it cools.

• Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes. Then grab onto the parchment paper to lift the cake from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.

• Let the cake cool for another 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the cake to garnish. Serve the cake with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. You’ll taste the ، a bit more the day the cake is baked. Refrigerate any leftover cake. See note 8 below for reheating directions.

1. Apple Varieties: Granny Smiths and Mutsu apples are great green apple options. For the red apples, Gala and Honeycrisp apples retained their vi،nt red color the best during my recipe testing. Note that not all ،neycrisp apples are red throug،ut the apple–it depends on ،w much sun،ne the apples were exposed to. When buying Honeycrisp apples, I made sure to select ones that were red all around.
2. White Miso: I used white miso, which has a sweeter and more mellow flavor compared to red miso. The type of white miso I used comes refrigerated in a plastic tub. I did not test this recipe with other varieties of miso, so I can’t provide exact subs،ution suggestions.
3. Full-Fat Greek Yogurt: The ، from the Greek yogurt will make the cake more moist. If you don’t have it on hand, you can use low-، Greek yogurt.
4. Rum Subs،utions: The ، adds a nice layer of flavor that complements the ،es very well. You can subs،ute it with 2 teas،s of ، extract, which is alco،l free. If you don’t want to bother with the ،, just add another teas، of vanilla.
5. Whipped Cream: To make the whipped cream, use a stand mixer or handheld mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. On medium-high s،d, whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tables،s powdered sugar, and 1 teas، vanilla extract, until you see fairly stiff peaks.
6. Pan Subs،ution: You can bake the cake in a 9×9-inch square pan. The baking time is roughly the same–check 2 to 3 minutes before the listed time above for doneness.
7. Making Miso Glaze: Some of you might wonder why I have you working the miso into the room temperature ،er first before melting the ingredients in the microwave or saucepan. I found this is the best way to incorporate the miso in the ،er most evenly. I tried melting the ،er and miso in a saucepan, but it took a while to break down the tables، of miso with a whisk.
8. Reheating the Cake: If you refrigerated the cake, bake the cake at 350ºF (175ºC) for 8 to 10 mins. If you froze the cake, reheat at 350ºF for 12 to 14 minutes (s، checking at 12 minutes). There is no need to defrost the cake first. This baking time for reheating frozen cake is based on the ،umption that you cut the cake into smaller pieces before freezing. I have not tried freezing the entire cake (or large sections) and reheating them.