Caramel Apple Spice Cake
Ahh, fall. Football's back, the leaves are changing, the temperatures are dropping, the smell of pumpkin spice lattes pollutes the air - what a time to be alive.
Though it doesn't feel like fall here, I'm getting excited for a trip home in a few weeks so I can get all my real fall activities in. I'm hoping the trees are just changing so I'll get to do some scenic driving. I've already recruited my friend Emily to help me get all of my favorite fall activities in that weekend, so we'll see how it goes.
While pumpkin spice lattes are becoming the newest indicator fall is coming, I still associate fall with apples. Going to the apple orchard, picking apples, getting honey sticks, apple cider, adult apple ciders, caramel apples; I am ready for it. I might have missed the official start of fall by a few days, but I did get around to making my first "Instagram" cake this weekend.
For the cake, I took a standard vanilla cake recipe and added the cinnamon extract to it to warm it up a little bit, and then make homemade caramel sauce for the frosting and to top it with. The sauce isn't the greatest for making traditional caramel apples, but I think it did the trick for this cake just fine. I also changed up my routine and measured everything out by weight, not by volume, and honestly, it's so much easier that way and I'm going to try to do it more.
I was worried the cakes would be too tall so I divided them up into 4 8-inch cake rounds and turns out I could have baked them in two, which is what I would recommend. With the four layers, they were like super fluffy pancakes, and the frosting to cake ratio was way off - so stick with 2 8-inch cake rounds and you'll be good to go!
Caramel Apple Cake Recipe
Vanilla Cake Ingredients
416 grams flour
600 grams cane sugar
13 grams baking powder
5 grams salt
226 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
9 grams vanilla bean paste
9 grams cinnamon extract
244 grams egg whites - about 7 large egg whites; I use egg whites from the carton to avoid wasting egg yolks
360 grams buttermilk, room temperature
30 grams vegetable oil
Frosting Ingredients
430 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
900 grams powdered sugar
45 grams heavy cream, plus additional if needed
70 grams caramel sauce
Additional Ingredients
Caramel Sauce for the top of cake, homemade or store-bought, warmed
50 grams Apple butter, homemade or store-bought
1 apple, any variety, washed and refrigerated.
Helpful Materials
1 10" cardboard cake round
offset spatula
piping bags with large circular tip
parchment paper
lazy susan
Cake Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together until combined. If using a stand mixer, the paddle attachment is best for this.
Slowly mix chunks of room-temperature butter into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
Pour in egg whites, and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk in two installments, on a low speed. Add in vanilla bean paste, cinnamon extract, and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Once fully mixed, divide evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-37 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool slightly in the pans before transferring to a cooling rack.
Frosting Instructions
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter until light and smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar in increments, only adding more once the previous amount has been incorporated. Add in caramel sauce and mix until combined, then slowly add in heavy cream until frosting is desired consistency.
Put into a piping bag and frost cake with an offset spatula or bench scraper.
Assembly
If using a lazy susan, place the cardboard cake round in the middle for easier assembly. Put a dollop of frosting onto the cardboard and smooth out. Place the first layer of cake in the middle of the cardboard round on top of the frosting. The frosting will help the layer from sliding. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on the layer and smooth out, then add a few tablespoons of apple butter spread onto the frosting, swirling the two together. Place the second cake layer on upside down so the top will be flat, and frost and smooth the frosting out. Frost the sides, smoothing as you go. Place the caramel sauce into a bowl, and dip the apple into the sauce, coating it. Set the caramel apple on parchment until ready to place. For the rest of the caramel, dress the top of the cake as you'd like. I put mine in a squeeze bottle and dripped it down the sides, filled the top in, and placed the apple off-center.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.