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Food Network star Molly Yeh is all about creating and enjoying delicious desserts. The Girl Meets Farm star adds bonus points to those that rekindle happy family memories. One of her favorites is a loaf cake that she adapted to her tastes from a family Thanksgiving recipe. The delicious and moist apple dessert combines sweet and savory flavor profiles and is topped with a delightful cream cheese frosting. Yeh admits it “looks pretty ugly” but gets an “oh goodness” reaction when eaten.

Molly Yeh smiles in a photograph, she stars in Food Network's "Girl Meets Farm."
Molly Yeh | Food Network/Discovery Press

The ‘pretty ugly’ cake that packs a flavor punch

Yeh’s blog, “My Name is Yeh,” is filled with some of her most treasured and comfort food memories, anecdotes about farm life with her husband Nick Hagen and their two daughters, and delicious recipes.

In a 2018 blog post, Yeh demonstrated making her super-indulgent recipe for Carmel Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

She shared her memories of this particular dessert favorite within a passage about the recipe.

“In my college days. For a few good years in a row, we all got together and cooked a feast at my cousin Jamie’s house. It was always a super solid classic thanksgiving meal,” Yeh explained.

“For dessert, there were a few pies, but this caramel apple loaf cake also looked pretty ugly, but it was so good,” she continued.

“It had a deeply caramelized flavor, and it was wildly dense, but big chunks of crisp tart apples broke it up. It was the kind of cake you just couldn’t walk by without shaving off one more sliver. Indeed, a hot contender for winning the honor of ending bite,” Yeh concluded.

What are the ingredients for Molly Yeh’s Carmel Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting?

Molly Yeh uses apples in many of her desserts including this one for Apple Pancake.
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There are quite a few ingredients in this recipe.

However, while it may appear challenging, the step-by-step method Yeh uses to describe her process of making it is pretty straightforward.

The ingredients for the cake include both regular and whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, brown sugar, and sugar.

Also needed are canola or vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and Granny Smith apples.

Yeh claims that the Granny Smith variety of apples proves to be the best type for this dish.

“Use granny smiths because they are super starchy and firm, and they won’t add too much moisture to the batter,” Yeh said in her blog.

The cream cheese topping includes softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and kosher salt.

How to make Apple Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

To make this favorite delicious dessert, begin by preheating your oven and line a loaf pan with parchment, making for easier removal of this sweet treat.

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.

In a separate bowl, whisk together sugars and oil until combined.

Then add eggs and vanilla before mixing in the dry ingredients.

Chop apples, then add to the mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for at least an hour. The overall baking time could take more depending on your oven.

Remove from pan when completely cooled. Make the frosting and top the cake.

Girl Meets Farm airs Sundays at 11 a.m. EST on The Food Network.