Cream Cheese Apple Cake

This apple cake certainly isn’t much to look at, but in the taste department, it’s Miss Universe! It’s studded with apples with a fine crumb, moist – thanks to the cream cheese, crowned with the perfect amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. It’s my new go-to apple cake! 

• 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350º and grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.
2. Peel and chop apples, toss with lemon juice and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and cream cheese until smooth, add eggs and vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to butter/cream cheese mixture until combined. Fold in apples.
5. Pour into prepared pan, smooth out with rubber spatula.
6. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon – sprinkle over the batter.
7. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, test with a toothpick. Let cool on a wire rack.