How to Make a Piecaken

With the holidays just around the corner, I wanted to attempt a dessert that would blow the socks off friends and family. The piecaken to the rescue!! Similar to the turducken, a piecaken is made by baking a pie inside a cake – creating the best of both worlds.

I have attempted this recipe twice. The first trial was a miserable failure, the second pretty good. With a third attempt, I’m sure my recipe would be perfected but I wanted to get these instructions to you in case you wanted to give it a try for this Thanksgiving. Below I’ll fill you in on my tips and tricks for creating a piecaken, as well include some cheater versions that will save you a lot of time. I’ve included the recipe I made up but please note it is not perfected yet but I do explain what I would do to improve it. Happy baking!

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The Basics of a Piecaken

1. Bake pie

2. Make cake batter

3. Pour 1/2 of the cake batter into the pan

4. Turn out the pie onto the batter in the pan

5. Pour the remaining cake batter on top

6. Bake the piecaken

7. Frost

It is really not all that difficult of a concept but the most important thing to remember when baking a piecaken is . . .

TIMING IS EVERYTHING!!!

If you don’t bake the piecaken long enough the cake part will not be cooked and you will have batter oozing out. Bake the piecaken too long and the cake will be dry. My first attempt at the piecaken was not edible because when I sliced into it cake batter came pouring out the bottom, so frustrating. I wanted to make sure my second attempt was cooked thoroughly so I kept it in a little too long and the cake turned out slightly dry. But hey, at least we could eat it! The problem is it is really hard to tell when a piecaken is fully cooked.

I would highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. Our oven was so off! I can’t believe the difference it made when we fixed the dials on our oven.

Below is my recipe. If I were to make it again (and I’m sure I will). I would make the following improvements;

Tip #1 – Roll the pie dough slightly thinner and maybe add some sugar and cinnamon to it. The more flavor the better.

Tip #2 – Do a few extra steps to prevent the sides of the cake from burning. For example, I read that you can put the springform pan inside a larger baking pan and place wet dishcloths between the two pans. Also, I heard some people use baking strips to help with this problem.

Tip #3 – Definitely use more frosting.

For my first piecaken I decided to bake an apple pie into a spice cake. In the future, I would love to try a piecaken with pumpkin pie and maybe some type of chocolate piecaken.

Now onto the recipe:

Make the Apple Pie [Cheater Version #1 – Buy a pie]

Preheat the oven to 400.

Make the Filling

In a medium sized bowl mix together the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

Peel, core, and slice 3-4 apples. I like my apple slices really thin so after using the apple corer I slice each piece again about four times. Put the slices in the bowl with the filling mixture. Stir until the apples are fully covered in the sugar mixture and let sit while you are making your pie crust.

Make the Crust [Cheater Version #2 – Buy refrigerated pie crust]

Pour the water into a liquid measuring cup and add a few ice cubes to it.

Next, slice the butter into pats – I find the smaller the better but they don’t need to be exact. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender. There will still be chucks but the butter should be evenly distributed and pea-sized.

Start with four tablespoons and sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture. Stir with a fork. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed. You can’t go backward if the dough gets too wet so only add a little at a time. The dough is ready when it starts to clump together.

Make two similarly sized balls out of the dough. Place one ball of dough between sheets of parchment paper so you don’t have a mess on your kitchen counter. Make sure to flour the parchment paper or the dough will stick to it! Roll the ball out until you invert the pie plate over the dough and have about a one-inch edge around the plate. As you can see below I got a little lazy and should have rolled out my dough a little more. But keep in mind I was racing against the clock during nap time so I wasn’t thinking about perfection.

Trace and cut a parchment round to place in the bottom of the dish.

Take off the top parchment sheet and flip the pie plate and dough over at the same time. If any of the dough rips use your ice water as “glue”.

Fill the dough with your apple mixture.

Roll out the second ball of dough and place on top. Pinch the crusts together. This does not need to look pretty – it is going inside a cake! An edge would be harder to get out of the pan so I make no edge at all. Cut slits in the top of the pie crust.

Bake the pie for 45-55 minutes or until the top is a golden brown and the filling begins to bubble.

The pie should be cooled completely before you start making the cake. In fact, I made my pie on one day and didn’t make my cake until the next day.

Make the Cake Batter [Cheater Version #3 – Buy a boxed cake mix]

Preheat the oven to 350.

Butter and flour a springform pan. Here is where in the future I would also put on the baking strips. Trace the pan on a parchment sheet and cut out a circle of parchment to place in the bottom of the pan.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.

Then in the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream. Beat until smooth.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat together until just combined.

Assemble the Piecaken

Here we go! Pour half the cake batter into the prepared pan. Turn out your pie onto the batter in the pan.

Pour the remaining batter over the pie.

Bake for 35 minutes and then put foil over the top of the pan to help prevent burning. Bake for another 40 – 50 minutes or until the center sets. I panicked and baked mine for a total of 1 hr and 45 minutes (way too long!).

Allow the piecaken to fully cool before frosting.

Make the Frosting [Cheater Version #4 – Buy frosting]

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, and milk.

Spread over the entire cake. I use a pastry scraper to smooth out the sides and then I pipe the frosting into a decorative edge. You may want to make more frosting if you are going to pipe a lot. I made the mistake of not putting enough frosting on the cake.

Make the Topping (Optional)

I chose to add a crumb topping to the piecaken because the piecaken always seems to dip in the middle where the pie is. The crumb mixture helps to deceive the eye – plus it’s good!

Melt the butter and stir all the topping ingredients together. Sprinkle on top of the piecaken.

I hope your piecaken turns out great and impresses your friends and families!

Apple Piecaken

An apple pie baked inside a spice cake with cinnamon frosting and a crumb topping.

Servings: 1 piecaken

Ingredients

Pie Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour plus extra for flouring surface
1 cup butter cold
6-10 tablespoons ice water

Spice Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

Cinnamon Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumb Topping

2 tablespoons butter melted
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions

Apple Pie

Preheat the oven to 400.
To make the apple pie filling start by mixing the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cornstarch, and cinnamon together in a medium-sized bowl.
Peel, core, and slice the apple chunks until you have thin, even slices.
Add the apple slices to the sugar mixture and stir until the slices are evenly coated.
Prepare the pie plate by placing a parchment round on the bottom.
Now make the pie crust by slicing the butter into pats.
Using a pastry blender cut in the butter with the flour until the dough has pea-sized chunks.
Add four tablespoons of ice water to the flour/butter chunks and stir with a fork.
Add one to two tablespoons of ice water at a time until the dough begins to stick together. You do not want to add too much water!
Make two dough balls similar in size. Roll out the dough balls in circular shapes until there is about an inch border around the inverted pie plate.
Place one crust in the pie plate and pour in the apple filling.
Place the second crust on top and pinch the two crusts together - there is no need to make any type of decorate edge.
Cut slits into the top pie crust.
Bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until the filling starts to bubble.
Let the pie cool completely.

Piecaken

Preheat the oven to 350.
Butter and flour a springform pan. You may also want to put a parchment round in the bottom of the pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.
Pour half the batter into the prepared springform pan.
Flip the cooled pie down onto the batter already in the pan.
Pour the remaining batter on top of the inverted pie.
Bake for 35 minutes then cover the pan with aluminum foil. Continue baking for an additional 40 - 50 minutes. As soon as the center of the piecaken is set pull it out of the oven to cool.

Cinnamon Frosting

Beat the powdered sugar and butter together.
Add the milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and continue beating. Add more milk if you would prefer a thinner consistency.
Frost the cooled piecaken.

Crumb Topping (optional)