Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

The Inspiration…

Sad apples. That’s right, sad-looking apples were the inspiration for this dish. I bought a bag of gala apples to pack in my husband’s lunches. Apparently, he was not in the mood for apples that week so each day he returned from work with the apple left in his lunch bag. They sat in our fruit bowl while I tried to decide what to do with them. I didn’t feel like going through all the effort of making an apple pie. They had lost their firmness and were looking a little waxy. Definitely not an apple you’d want to sink your teeth into. I had recently made some peanut-butter blondies and thought about how easy that batter is to throw together. How delicious does that sound? The buttery blondie flavor would go great with apples in my opinion! So that’s where I started. Skip the butter and brown sugar. Add in a bit more flour and baking soda. Flavor it with cinnamon (because what is an apple dessert without cinnamon?) and add in heaps of apples. Top that with some warm caramel sauce, and maybe some vanilla ice cream, and no one will believe just how easy this dessert is to make!

This batter is truly so easy. You don’t even need to use a hand mixer - a whisk or spoon works just fine! Start with the wet ingredients, add in your diced apples, stir in the dry and you’re done!! This is a very thick batter. In fact, it ends up looking more like apples in cinnamon sauce than a cake batter. But trust me, it makes one delicious dessert!! It also serves for a fantastic breakfast or brunch menu item!

The outside caramelizes a bit to give you a nice chewy bite. The inside is moist and soft. Top it with that luscious caramel sauce and it is a texture trifecta! So, what do you do when life gives you some bad apples? Make cake!!!

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Easy Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

Yield: 12

Author: Julia Goodrich

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 60 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 25 M

One of the easiest and most delicious cakes you'll ever make. Bursting with apples and cinnamon then topped with a gooey caramel sauce. Heaven on a plate!

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 6 - 7 apples
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda

For the caramel sauce:

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 4 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 TBSP vanilla

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, and cinnamon.
3. Peel and dice the apples and mix into batter.
4. Mix flour and baking soda into the batter.
5. Pour into a well-greased 9x13 pan, Bundt pan, or two 9" round pans.
6. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. If using a Bundt pan or 9" rounds, turn out onto a cooling rack to complete cooling. Serve warm.
8. While the cake cools, make the caramel sauce.

For the caramel sauce:

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat. Whisk constantly.
2. Cook for 10 minutes as it thickens. (It will thicken more as it cools.) The mixture will turn a lighter brown as it thickens.
3. Drizzle over the entire cake, or directly onto individual slices. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

440.51

Fat

15.14

Sat. Fat

4.10

Carbs

74.62

Fiber

3.16

Net carbs

71.46

Sugar

54.76

Protein

3.85

Sodium

121.49

Cholesterol

44.71

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.