I’m in love with most cakes, but caramel apple cake… it is seriously in my all-time top 5.
It is stuffed full of apples, both on top and all in the middle, covered in homemade caramel sauce (yes!) and super-duper moist! Like almost disappears when you cut it with your fork, moist!
It’s perfect for this time of year, when it starts to get a little colder and there is an abundance of apples. I went with three granny smith apples. Two in the batter, because we want chunks of apple in every bite, plus beautiful apple slices to adorn the top. The granny smith apples were perfect because they added a nice tart flavor, which is the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the cake.
I also added a half of a cup of sour cream, which gives the cake a moist texture but also adds a tangy balance. Sour cream in cake batter is always a good idea if you ask me.
I made this in a springform pan because who doesn’t want an extra deep dish apple cake to put caramel sauce on top of! It cooked nice and high and had the most delicious aroma – apples, cinnamon, nutmeg – to die for!
I pulled it out of the oven and let it cool completely. Simply remove from the springform pan and drizzle tons of homemade caramel sauce all over – and I mean ALL over!
This caramel apple cake is everything you love about fall in the form of a cake!
Caramel Apple Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- ½ heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Apple Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 inch springform pan.
- Slice all three apples, with two of the apple chop them in until you have a large dice.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until fluffy.
- Next add the sour cream and beat until combined, followed by each egg, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Scrape down your bowl, add vanilla and beat an additional time.
- Finally, beat in the milk. The batter may appear to be curdled, but that’s perfectly normal.
- Stir in the flour mixture, beating until you get a smooth, creamy, beige batter.
- Stir in the chopped apples and spread into the prepared pan. Arrange the remaining apple slices over top, overlapping them slightly, in a circular patter over the batter.
- Put the pan on the top rack of the oven for 40-50 minutes. Once a toothpick or skewer is inserted and comes out dry, the cake is done.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
Caramel Sauce
- Heat sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, The sugar will start to form hard clumps but will eventually melt into a thick brown amber liquid. Be careful not to burn.
- Once the sugar has completely melted, immediately add the butter. The butter will bubble rapidly so be careful. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2 minutes.
- Very slowly, pour the heavy cream into your pan. Again, this will bubble and splatter so be careful. Allow the mixture to boil for one minute,
- Remove from the heat and stir in salt.
- Allow to cool slightly before drizzling over the apple cake. If done over the entire cake, serve immediately. If serving over a longer period of time, drizzle over each slice individually as served.
- Leftover caramel can be store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. You can warm it up in the microwave to make it easier to drizzle.
