The cake recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, who claims that this is the moistest cake she's ever made. I would say the same is true for me, especially after adding the apple butter. In fact, the very last step of the cake recipe says to sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top. I added a dusting of sugar and let it sit that way all day. I probably should have dusted it right before serving because when I got home from work several hours later, the moist cake had transformed the powdery sugar into a sheer glaze. It still tasted great and the cake looked really shiny, so don't be alarmed if the same happens to you.
The apple butter recipe is loosely based on a recipe I spotted in the Washingtonian last week for apple-cornbread pudding. The recipe says to cook the apples in butter and then puree the mixture in a blender. All the other recipes I found for apple butter said to slow cook the apples or bake them for hours, and I didn't have that much time. The butter turned out great for such little effort. The Washingtonian's recipe would have been kind of bland, so I threw in some brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg when I made it.
