Norwegian Apple Cake With Brown Cheese Frosting

As apple season continues here in Norway, my friends keep bringing me apples that their families have brought them from Sognefjord. Last week I made Norwegian cinnamon buns with apple sauce filling, and this week I decided to make one of the most delicious cakes I know: Norwegian apple cinnamon cake with brown cheese frosting.

I love using Norwegian brown cheese in desserts because it’s already quite sweet and has such a distinct taste that it adds an immediately recognizable Norwegian twist to anything I use it in.

While not technically a cheese, brunost is made from leftover whey from the cheesemaking process. The whey is boiled down until it caramelizes. In Norway you can buy brown cheese made both from cow’s milk and from goat’s milk, with slightly varying flavors.

Some supermarkets abroad carry brown cheese as well, otherwise you can order it online. You can order Norwegian brown cheese on Amazon here.

Brown cheese tastes wonderful with this dark, cinnamon spiced apple cake. I love this cake so much, and it making it instantly put me in an autumn mood. Making a fire in my fireplace for the first time this season also helped with the autumn vibes!

You can also use this brown cheese frosting on other cakes or cupcakes. And of course you can make the apple cake without the frosting, if you prefer (or if you don’t have brown cheese available).

Tips

This apple cake is quite simple, but it really pack flavor, thanks to the cinnamon and apples.

I use two medium apples in this recipe. Here I’m using local red Discovery apples that my friend gave me from her family’s orchard, but green apples would also be great in this recipe.

You can choose how big or small you want to chop your apples. I like medium sized pieces in this cake, but if you prefer a smoother cake you could even grate the apples instead of chopping them into pieces.

Be sure to let the butter soften before mixing it together with the sugars and eggs. I use an electric hand mixer to make both the cake batter and the brown cheese cream frosting.

Then after sifting in the dry ingredients I stir the batter with a wooden spoon until it’s smooth.

Once the cake batter is smooth, add the apples.

I bake this cake in a round 9 inch (23 cm) springform. If you’re using a larger cake form, keep a close eye on the cake in the oven as it will be thinner and bake more quickly. The cake is finished when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

This cake is also delicious without the brown cheese frosting, but the frosting really makes it special!

Cut the brown cheese into quite small pieces so that it melts easily into your heated butter.

Then heat up your butter in a bowl (I use a microwave, but you could also heat it in a saucepan on the stove). Remove the melted butter from the heat and immediately stir in the brown cheese.

Keep stirring until the brown cheese is fully melted. If there are pieces that don’t melt or if the brown cheese separates (this can happen, don’t worry!) then you can use an electric mixer to make the mixture smooth.

You’ll also use an electric mixer to beat the frosting together, so it will be smooth in the end!

Then add the brown cheese mixture to the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a large bowl and beat with the electric mixer until smooth.

Once the cake has cooled you can add the frosting and enjoy!

The cake tastes best the first day, but it will last for a few days in the fridge if you cover it in plastic wrap. You can add a few toothpicks to the top of the cake so the plastic wrap doesn’t stick to the top.

You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.