A super-easy apple spice cake made from a mix, with a perfectly fluffy white chocolate browned butter buttercream that has only two ingredients. It’s the cake that this early fall season is begging for!

I hadn’t really planned on sharing this recipe, but I decided it was too delicious not to. It all came about mostly by accident. I was shopping at Wal-Mart this week, and found the sprinkles I ended up using on this cake. I love fall, and I love sprinkles, and I didn’t have these…so I couldn’t help myself and bought them. Look at how perfectly fall-inspired they are! But then I needed to make something to use them on. When I got home, I started thinking about what I could bake that needed these sprinkles. I remembered I had a spice cake mix in the pantry, so I pulled that out and started mixing it up. But to add just a little more fall flavor, I decided to use unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. It adds just the slightest hint of apple that works so well with the spice cake.

I know, that’s not much of a recipe yet. But then I needed to make a frosting for it. I was going to just make my standard browned butter buttercream, but I checked my baking supplies and realized I was pretty low on powdered sugar. I wasn’t sure I would have enough for a full batch of buttercream. So I thought I would make Swiss meringue buttercream with browned butter. And I checked my eggs. Not enough of those either. (I’ve been out of town for work and haven’t been baking much.) At this point I was getting desperate, because I really didn’t want to go back to the store. And my cake was already in the oven. That’s when I remembered a two-ingredient chocolate frosting I had tried previously, and wondered if it could be made with white chocolate. I went back to the original blogger, and sure enough, it can be made with white chocolate chips! At this point I was fairly certain I could also use browned butter, so I just went for it. It was the right decision. This frosting is not too sweet, and the combination of white chocolate and nutty browned butter pair perfectly with the spice cake.

Anyone can make this frosting. Seriously, anyone. And it’s so impressive, even if you’re not a baker people will be raving over this dessert. All you do is brown butter and add white chocolate chips. To brown the butter, put it in a light-colored (not non-stick) pan and melt it over medium-low heat. It will start to bubble – that’s what you want. Let it continue to cook until you start to see brown spots at the bottom. That’s the milk solids starting to brown, which is what gives it a nutty flavor. Once the melted butter is golden and the bits are a medium brown, take it off the heat and cool it slightly. Once it is warm, but not hot, add the white chocolate chips and let them melt. Chill it until solid, bring to room temperature, and whip it up. That’s it. Delicious, sophisticated frosting with almost no effort.

I baked this in three 6-inch pans, but you can bake it in any pans you would like. Use two 8- or 9-inch, or even a 9×13-inch pan for an even easier dessert. Want to mix it up and make it your own? Add some chopped, toasted pecans on top or in the middle frosting layers. Use apple cider instead of water in the cake for an even more prominent apple flavor. Add a drizzle of caramel or melted cookie butter on top (definitely going that route next time myself!). Which ever way you make it, just make sure to give this frosting a try. It couldn’t be easier, and it will definitely impress your friends and family!