Cover Recipe: Apple Stack Cake

I know I am very late for a September recipe, but this was a complicated one that took me a while to find time to make.  I made it for a family holiday dinner, so it also became somewhat hard to photograph well.  This is the best shot I had, pretty bad compared to my usuals, but this shot certainly captures the drama of the dessert.  It covers the September cover of Southern Living and one part of the cake that did not make it into this photo was the apple cider glaze.  I poured this on at the end an it unfortunately was the straw that made the cake start to collapse a little, like the leaning tower of Pisa.  While this cake is not simple, it did come together easier than I thought it would and was a really tasty and special way to celebrate fall apples.   If you are need of a pit of a project and a bit of a dessert stunner, this one's for you.

Six Layer Apple Cake, adapted from Southern Living (September 2014)
(printable recipe)

So my version of the apple stack cake did not come out looking like the Southern Living version below, but perhaps with practice it would.  Bottom line, this tasted really yummy and was not that technically difficult to make.  It had a really big visual impact but at its heart is a homey modest dessert.  I was also impressed at how easy it sliced and served, which I would not have expected.  Definitely worth the effort.  To make it, Southern Living counsels to by six disposable aluminum cake pans. While this is not green, this is what I did and it certainly made it easier.  This is the order you should make the elements: Filling first, then glaze, then cake.
 
Ingredients
Filing
3 pounds tart apples (like Granny Smith) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch sized wedges
3 pounds crisp apples (like honey crisp)  peeled and cut into 1/2 inch sized wedges
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 lemon, sliced
Cake
Vegetable oil cooking spray
six disposible cake pans
parchment paper
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup apple butter
Apple Cider Glaze
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. To make filling, combine apples, sugar and lemon slices in a dutch oven.  Heat over medium heat until mixture reaches a boil then lower heat and cookdown, stirring often but carefully, for 20-25 minutes until apples are tender and syrupy.
2. Cool completely and remove lemon slices.  Cover and cool until use.
3. To make the glaze: Combine the sugar, syrup, butter and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil, stirring often, until thickened, 4 - 10 minutes.  Set aside.  If it cools too much, microwave for ten seconds until pourable.
4. To make cake,  spray cake pans and then place parchment circle in each cake pan and spray parchment.
5. Preheat oven to 350.
6. Beat the softened butter and sugar in a standing mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
7. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until just blended after each egg.
8. Stir together spices and 2 and 3/4 cup of flour in a medium bowl.
9. Stir together buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl.
10. Add some flour to butter mixture and then alternate with the buttermilk mixture, stirring after each addition.  Finish with the flour mixture.
11. Stir 1/4 cup with flour and pecans.  
12. Fold pecans and apple butter into the cake mixture.
13. Beat the egg whites into stiff white peaks.  Fold 1/3 of egg whites into the batter.  Then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
14. Divide the cake batter evenly between the six pans and smooth out the top the batter in each pan.
15. Bake for 7 minutes.  Then rotate the pans (move those from the top rack to the bottom rack and vice versa).  Bake for 7-9 minutes more until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
16. Remove the pans from the oven and immediately brush each cake with apple cider glaze.
17. Let cook in pans on rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and let cook completely.
18. To assemble, place cake on a serving platter glaze side up, top with 1 and 1/2 cups of the topping.  Repeat with remaining layers and filling.   To make sure the cake does not topple over, try to distribute the filling evenly and don't fill it too much.
19.  Top final layers with remaining filling, pour glaze over and serve immediately.