This moist and flavorful sourdough discard cake is the perfect way to use up extra starter while baking something cozy and delicious. Made with sweet apples, warm spices, and topped with a maple cream cheese frosting, this simple recipe comes together easily and delivers big fall flavor. It’s a great addition to your baking rotation and an easy choice when you’re looking to make the most of your sourdough routine.
This cozy sourdough apple cake is a great way to put your discard to good use without overcomplicating the process. The grated apples add natural moisture and sweetness, while the sourdough discard brings just the right amount of depth to the flavor. Unlike traditional layer cakes, this single-pan treat is easy to make and frost. Topped with maple cream cheese frosting, it’s a treat that feels special without requiring extra effort. Sourdough discard apple cake is easy to make in one pan and ideal for sharing with friends, enjoying after dinner, or serving with coffee during the week.
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Why We Love This Sourdough Apple Cake
- A lighter dessert.
This old fashioned apple cake is light and tender, it goes perfectly with a hot cup of coffee or tea! - It’s a perfect way to use up your sourdough discard!
It can be challenging to find creative ways to bake with your discard. What better way than to make a tasty sourdough dessert? - Easy to make!
Even though this dessert is made from scratch, there isn’t anything complicated about it.
Using Sourdough Discard for Desserts
You’ll need an active starter for this sourdough dessert. It gives an extra rise to the batter and makes it super moist and tender. So, check out our easy active sourdough starter recipe to make a fail-proof starter.
The tangy flavor pairs perfectly with the apples to make an incredibly moist cake.
If you’re looking for tasty ways to use your sourdough discard, we’ve got you covered with our sourdough starter discard recipes!
Want to make other sourdough desserts?
Some of our most popular sourdough recipes are desserts!
When you taste the incredible flavor of easy sourdough cinnamon rolls and sourdough discard banana bread, you may never want to make them any other way!
The Best Apples for Baking
When baking with apples, you want to choose a variety that holds up well, without becoming too mushy.
We recommend using Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Honey Crisp because their firm flesh is ideal for baking. The tartness of Granny Smith apples helps balance out the sweetness of the sourdough cake as well.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Active sourdough starter: fed 12-24 hours before starting the recipe
When we say active, we mean a mature starter that is at least a week old and always doubles in size within 4-6 hours of feeding. It doesn’t mean you need to use it at the peak activity after a feeding. - Butter: using room temperature or softened butter is essential in this frosted sourdough cake recipe! If you are in a hurry, cut the butter into cubes so it softens faster. Or put it in a glass bowl over a bowl of warm water.
- Vegetable oil: although you could use all butter or all vegetable oil, the combination of butter and oil gives you that buttery goodness flavor, while vegetable oil keeps it light but moist.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar: the mixture of granulated sugar and brown sugar gives the batter a creaminess from the white sugar, while the brown sugar adds a depth of flavor, thanks to the molasses in it.
- Eggs: room temperature eggs are a must! Want to bake without eggs? Discover this effective egg replacement for cake.
- Self-rising flour: this isn’t the same as all-purpose flour! Self-rising flour combines baking powder, all-purpose flour, and a little salt. See our post on best self rising flour to save money by making it yourself.
- Baking soda: be sure to use baking soda and not baking powder! They are not the same.
- Apples: you can use any variety of apples here. Although we’ve shared our favorites above, feel free to use your favorite.
Recipe Variations
- Swap the frosting: Instead of maple cream cheese, try a simple vanilla glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar for a lighter topping. You can also add chopped walnuts or pecans on top for a little crunch. For chocolate goodness, add cocoa powder or Dutch chocolate.
- Use pears instead of apples: Pears bring a mellow sweetness and work just as well in this recipe. Choose ripe but firm pears and dice them small before folding them into the batter.
- Make it into muffins: Scoop the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 18–22 minutes. This is a great option for breakfast or lunchbox treats.
- Add raisins or dried cranberries: Fold in ½ cup of raisins or cranberries for extra bursts of sweetness. This variation pairs nicely with the spice blend and sourdough flavor.
Equipment Used in this Recipe
- Stand mixer
- Large mixing bowl
- 9×13-inch cake pan or baking dish
- Rubber spatula
- Cooling rack
🎯 TFN Pro Tip
To warm cold eggs quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.
How to Make Sourdough Discard Cake
- Don’t overmix the batter ingredients.
Use a stand or hand mixer to beat the butter, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large just until the batter is light in color and creamy.
- Stir the dry ingredients together first.
In a large bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together before adding them to the batter. This helps prevent over-mixing the batter, so you’ll have a lighter texture sourdough cake.
- Let the cake completely cool before frosting.
To prevent the cream cheese frosting from melting, let it cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting the sourdough cake.
If you aren’t a fan of cream cheese frosting, consider topping your sourdough discard apple cake with a batch of fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream instead.
The scent of this amazing combination will have you itching to cut that first slice before the sourdough apple cake is even frosted!
Serving Suggestions
This sourdough discard cake is best served at room temperature, allowing the flavors to shine and the frosting to soften slightly. It makes a cozy dessert on its own, but it’s also lovely paired with a hot cup of coffee or tea. For a fall-inspired touch, sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the frosted top or add a few thin apple slices as a garnish. If you’re serving a crowd, cut the cake into small squares for easy sharing. And for something extra indulgent, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side brings a creamy contrast to the spiced crumb.
Recipe FAQs
If your baked sourdough dessert turns out dry, it may be because it baked for too long or overmixed the batter.
After 35 minutes, test the doneness by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, then it’s done.
When mixing the batter, follow the directions to prevent overmixing.
Yes! Once it’s cooled, remove it from the pan and wrap it in plastic wrap and foil (or in a gallon zip-top bag), then freeze. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can mix together your own with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
The frosted apple cake will stay moist for up to 4 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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Sourdough Discard Apple Cake
Equipment
- stand mixer
- large mixing bowl
- 9×13-inch cake pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard or fed 12-24 hours prior *see notes below
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature or softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 large large eggs room temperature
- 2½ cups self-rising flour
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice **see notes for substitutions
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 medium apples peeled, cored, and grated or sliced into small pieces. **We use Honeycrisp, but any sweet apple will work
Maple Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature or softened
- 3 cups confectioners sugar aka powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons maple extract or vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray a 13" x 9" cake pan with cooking spray.
- Add butter, oil, sugar, and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes, until light in color and creamy.
- In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients: flour, spices, and baking soda. Add to wet ingredients and stir on low speed for 30 seconds or fold together with a spoon by hand. Stir in apples and sourdough starter discard by hand until mixed together, about 30 seconds.
- Pour sourdough apple cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter, and confectioners sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add salt and maple extract.
- Add frosting to the top of the cooled cake and serve.
Notes
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Why did my sourdough cake turn out dry? If your baked sourdough dessert turns out dry, it may be because it baked for too long or overmixed the batter. After 35 minutes, test the doneness by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, then it’s done. When mixing the batter, follow the directions to prevent overmixing.
- Can I freeze a sourdough apple cake? Yes! Once it’s cooled, remove it from the pan and wrap it in plastic wrap and foil (or in a gallon zip-top bag), then freeze. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- What if I don’t have pumpkin pie spice? If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can mix together your own with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
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- Swap the frosting: Instead of maple cream cheese, try a simple vanilla glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar for a lighter topping. You can also add chopped walnuts or pecans on top for a little crunch. For chocolate goodness, add cocoa powder or Dutch chocolate.
-
- Use pears instead of apples: Pears bring a mellow sweetness and work just as well in this recipe. Choose ripe but firm pears and dice them small before folding them into the batter.
-
- Make it into muffins: Scoop the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 18–22 minutes. This is a great option for breakfast or lunchbox treats.
- Add raisins or dried cranberries: Fold in ½ cup of raisins or cranberries for extra bursts of sweetness. This variation pairs nicely with the spice blend and sourdough flavor.
- To warm cold eggs quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
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Denise says
This is the best dessert ever! I made it for a holiday party and won the Top Chef award. I did make a few edits :- I added three extra apples, vanilla to the frosting a the cake. I also bake it for 5 minutes less. Absolutely amazing. Thank you.
Gianne - TFN Team Member says
That’s amazing! We’re so glad you like this recipe.