Salted Caramel Apple Cake
This cake. Oh. My. Gosh.
I have had the page doggy-eared in Baked Explorations ever since I bought the book, which was something like four or five years ago. One of the downfalls of having a huge stash of cookbooks is that a lot of really great recipes can fall between the cracks. This was one of those unfortunate incidents, and am I ever glad that I dragged that book back out a couple of weeks ago. My fall cake eating will never be the same again. This is a very good thing.
Even though I adore baking, I don’t make layer cakes all that often just due to the time factor. They’re usually a little fussy and time-consuming, so I put this off for awhile, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised at how NOT very fussy or time-consuming it was. It certainly helps that you use the same thing to both fill and frost the cake!
This cake is incredibly dense and moist, thanks to the abundance of applesauce that is used as the “wet” ingredient. The cake itself is wonderfully spiced, then filled and frosted with an old-fashioned-style cooked buttercream that is spiked with my favorite salted caramel sauce. The frosting reminded me of the filling for one of my all-time favorite desserts – Ho-Ho Cake. Which is to say, it’s utterly fantastic. Since I believe that all caramel apples should be rolled in chopped peanuts, I sprinkled the top of the cake with peanuts. I love the extra salty kick it gave the cake.
Everyone who got to sample this cake was pretty much rendered speechless. My father-in-law already requested it for his birthday in February. My husband said it’s one of the five best cakes I have made… EVER.
So basically, you have to make this cake. There’s no way around it!
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Salted Caramel Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 4 cups (482 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, at room temperature
- 2½ cups (496 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups (904 ml) unsweetened applesauce
For the Salted Caramel Buttercream:
- 1½ cups (298 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (40 g) all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups (340 ml) whole milk
- ⅓ cup (76 ml) heavy cream
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (109 ml) salted caramel sauce
To Garnish:
- Salted caramel sauce
- Chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper, grease the parchment, then flour the pans, tapping out any excess.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture to the mixer bowl in three parts, alternating with the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix on low for an additional 30 seconds to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack, remove the parchment, and allow to cool completely.
- Make the Salted Caramel Buttercream: In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixtures comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter and vanilla; mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. (It might seem like it won’t get to the fluffy point, but stick with it, it’ll get there!) Add the salted caramel sauce and continue mixing until combined and fluffy. (If the frosting is too soft, put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it reaches a fluffy consistency.)
- Assemble the Cake: If any of the cake layers have domed on top, trim the top off to create flat surfaces. Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Spread 1¼ cups of the frosting on top. Add the next layer and top with 1¼ cups of the frosting. Add the third layer on top and spread a very thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of the cake. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, until firm. Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Drizzle some additional salted caramel sauce on top and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Return to the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes prior to serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I made this recipe years ago, I was amazed! I volunteered to bring dessert this year for Christmas, just so I could make this cake!!
Did this recipe use to call for a homemade apple sauce and an apple syrup? I’m so sure it was your recipe I use to use but it seems different. Did you change this in the directions?
Just made this cake. I really wish the recipe started with the salted caramel sauce before the buttercream frosting. Messed me up with timing and effected the presentation. I’ll lyk what the family says about the taste.
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What an impressive cake! It was daunting at first, but I just followed BEB’s steps and ended up with a delicious and beautiful cake! And now I have a jar full of delicious caramel sauce in the fridge.
Amazing! Make this every year for my husband’s fall birthday! Made with fresh homemade applesauce.
I enjoyed making this beautiful cake. This was my first time making a cooked buttercream frosting. I did find the applesauce spice cake too wet for my taste though. It was fully cooked (toothpick came out clean), but I probably wouldn’t make it again. My guests enjoyed it and the bday girl was thrilled, but a recipe made with less applesauce so it’s not so wet in texture would be a better alternative for me. I love spice cakes and I did find there was a nice apple flavor. I wonder how reducing the applesauce would improve the texture. The frosting was fun to make and delicious. I loved the chopped peanuts on top. I think there should be peanuts on all the layers since the cake is so tall. That way all layers would have the chopped peanuts for flavor.
Made it for my daughter’s 3rd birthday today. I had 6″ rounds so it came out to 4 layers which made a beautiful tall stacked cylinder. Tinted the frosting blue and made some fondant dinosaurs. It was gorgeous and this is the first time my kid actually ate her birthday cake. We all loved it. Thank you!
PS – where in the world did you get this buttercream method?? I’ve never seen anything like it before! It’s not swiss, italian, french, or german…
So glad this was enjoyed by your family! As for the frosting, it’s from the Baked cookbook, but my grandma has a cake recipe with a frosting that’s very similar (you cook the milk and flour together on the stove first) – I think it’s a quite old-fashioned technique!
It’s called Ermine Frosting. This recipe is my go to for frostings!
Hi,
This is the cake I want to make for my husband’s November Birthday. I’ll be serving 3 people.
Can you please help me with measurements to cut back this recipe to yield 2 total layers?
Thank you!
This recipe is fantastic! I made it for my sister’s birthday tomorrow, and I can’t stop snacking on the trimmings! Absolutely delicious, and so perfect for fall! The applesauce really makes for a moist cake!!
Hey there!
I’m looking forward to making this for my husband’s birthday this weekend! Do you have a time/temperature conversion that you recommend for making this as a sheet cake or cupcakes (specifically for the purposes of portability and portion control ;) )? I typically just look one up online, but with the added liquid of the applesauce, I wanted to be sure to check.
Thank you!
every recipe I have made from this site is five star!!the recipes heE are absolutely amazing!! I am going to make this cake for my wedding. Is the buttercream easy to pipe?
This looks absolutely amazing. I’m not a baker. At all, in fact I usually just don’t bake because I have a major sugar addiction and cannot trust myself not to eat the entire thing I’ve just made. Immediately. In one sitting. ANYWAY, do you think this could be made using gluten-free flour…and also a sugar replacement, like Lakanto or Swerve? At least for the cake portion? I get that the caramel would not come out right and I’m guessing the frosting wouldn’t either….but…thoughts on at least the cake portion?
I made this as my wedding cake (adjusted to feed 65 people in two tiers), and it was a complete success! :) Thank you! I didn’t use this buttercream recipe, but instead made a cream cheese/whipped cream frosting :)
I’m super new to baking and I thought I’d take on this recipe. It was lots of fun to make and *just* challenging enough for a newbie 😊
I almost lost faith in the frosting but if yo keep working it it will thicken, haha.
Good reviews from my taste testers all around! Thanks for the recipe!
I divided the recipe into thirds and made one dozen regular size cupcakes to pretty much test before the holidays. I did cheat a little as I didn’t want to buy clove and allspice just for this so purchased an Apple Poe spice blend. Absolutely delicious! Will definitely be a hit at Thanksgiving. Baking time for me was about 27 minutes. My sauce came out a little over done but everything is still fantastic.
The cake was delicious BUT it had absolutely no apple flavor. It was more like a spice cake.
Can you substitute the applesauce for apple cider?
Hi Natalie, I don’t know that the substitution will work because of the difference in texture.
Do you think this recipe would work well for cupcakes?
Hi Heather, I’ve never tried it, so I can’t say for sure!
I have made this cake several times and my family and friends loves it. My question is will this cake freeze very well?
Hi Linda, So happy to hear you’ve enjoyed this. Yes, it should freeze just fine!
I made this cake and it was moist and delicious! The salted caramel sauce is completely amazing. I make it often and put it on everything. It is so very good.
Hi Michelle! I’ve made this cake once before and it was great, but my icing was a little off in texture and appearance, I think because I don’t have a standing mixer (did the best I could with my hand held one). Do you think this cake would still taste good if I made a cream cheese frosting and added in a little salted caramel? My hand mixer does well with cream cheese frostings :)
Oh yes, a cream cheese frosting would be heavenly on this cake! Enjoy! :)
I made this for thanksgiving and everyone freaked out! I made the applesauce from scratch from mostly macintosh apples. I also spiked the caramel with cognac.
The frosting was kind of a broken disaster visually, but still tasted good. It was covered by cake and caramel sauce so no one really saw it.
It’s an unusual frosting formula – somewhere between traditional and Italian buttercream? I may tinker with it next time.
Can the layer cakes and/or the frosting be made a few days ahead and then assembled the night before? I am planning to make this amazing cake for Thanksgiving NF I work the days leading up to it. Should I bake the layers, cool completely, and wrap in Saran Wrap or foil to keep fresh until assembly? Thanks Michelle!
Hi Bennett, Yes, you can definitely bake the cake layers, wrap in plastic wrap until ready to assemble. I haven’t tried to make the frosting in advance, but if you do, you’ll want to store it in the refrigerator and then re-whip if it’s too firm when ready to assemble.
Hi!
Can I get away without having a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment? Can I use an electric hand mixer?
Thanks!
Hi Jessica, I think for the cake, yes definitely. However, the frosting may be trickier. I think it’s worth trying with a hand mixer though if that’s all you have.
First off, I love your recipes and blog! Many of yours have become favorites of mine. I would like to use this cake under fondant for my daughter ‘s birthday, but I am concerned if the cooked buttercream will be firm enough to hold up under fondant. Is it very soft? Do you thinkl I could add the caramel sauce to an American buttercream?
Hi Jessica, It might be a little soft for under fondant; using caramel in American buttercream does soften it up, so if you go that route, you might need to add more powdered sugar to get the right consistency.
Oh. My. God. I just made this cake and everything came out beautifully. The cake itself was rich, moist, and dense and perfectly spiced. I was a newbie at making caramel sauce and I aced it :) The buttercream icing is a show stopper. For those that ended up with a runny icing, please try it again. Make sure your base of milk, sugar, and four thickens enough on the stove. And here’s a tip my daughter gave me — place your stand mixer bowl in the refrigerator for an hour before placing this mixture in it. After beating it for 10 mins. in the cold bowl it had definitely cooled down enough to complete the rest of the icing. Also, make sure your butter is not completely room temp. As stated in the recipe, it should be soft, but still cool to the touch. I could seriously just eat a bowl of this icing!! Everyone loved, loved, loved this cake and I will be making it again. Oh — and here’s another decorating idea from my daughter — I candied some apple slices and made a crescent shape along one side of the top of the cake with the apple slices cascading down the side. They looked like glass — so pretty!!!
Hello! This cake looks and and sounds delicious, I hope to bake it for my sisters birthday this weekend. Only issue that it seems as though the supermarkets local to me in the UK seem to stock only sweetened applesauce, would you be able say how much sugar I could/should decrease if I do use the sweetened version? Or would you suggest I make my own batch of unsweetened applesauce?
Also how long does this cake keep for, whether or not I I end up having to make fresh applesauce or not?
Thanks in advance :)
Parbi
Hi Parbina, I don’t know exactly how much you should decrease the sugar; a homemade applesauce is always an option but probably not 100% necessary if you cut back on the sugar a bit. Enjoy the cake!
Hello! In general with 3-layer cake recipes – is the amount of batter more than a 2-layer cake, or are the layers simply shorter? I’d like to make a 2-layer cake with a 3-layer recipe I found, but I don’t know if I need to decrease the cake recipe by 1/3 or leave it alone.
Hi Amanda, All of the three layer cakes I make have more batter than a traditional 2-layer cake since the layers are thick and substantial, not thin.
Thank you!
The cake itself is amazing! Fluffy and light and flavorful. The Carmel sauce is also beautiful. I found the instructions for both of these very straightforward and both turned out lovely.
The buttercream icing however is a fail. I ended up with 3 beautiful cake layers and a soupy, runny mess of an icing. So sad to put in all this effort to have it all fall apart with the icing …
Hi Alex, I’m sorry that the frosting gave you a hard time. I’ve never had an issue making it myself, but someone did share a link to a different technique for mixing that you might want to try next time!
Made this as a birthday cake and it was wonderful! It was fairly easy to make and the taste was exquisite!
I do enjoy cooking from time to time, but my no means an expert and this was the first time I made a cake from scratch! With just a little bit of extra effort, this was way better than pre-made cake mix! I leaned you can use two 9″ cake pans in lieu of three 8″ pans if you need and works great. This configuration easily makes 10-15 slices.
The only thing I would add is that the term ‘fluffy’ when mixing the frosting is a little misleading. I think of something cotton-like and I mixed for over 20 minutes to get it to that consistency and it never got there. This amount of time in the mixer created a frosting that VERY easily melts at room temperature and did not hold its shape. Mixing for about 5 minutes is all you need and would result in a much more stable material.
Can’t go wrong with this recipe – will definitely make again!
Did you use salted or unsalted peanuts on the top? Thank you!
Hi Carolyn, I used salted, but either would work!
I have made many recipes from your site and love it. I tried the apple caramel cake. I don’t know what happened to the buttercream. It was runny!!!
In a hail mary, I tore one cake layer into pieces, added gelatin to the runny buttercream and made the middle layer. I just used whipped cream for the frosting.
what did i do wrong with the buttercream?
ps love the coconut cake with the meringue buttercream
Hi Janet, Did you try the trick of putting it in the refrigerator to chill for a bit and then beat it again? If so and it was still too runny, a couple of things may have been the culprit – the sugar/flour mixture wasn’t allowed to thicken enough on the stove and was taken off the heat too early. OR the salted caramel sauce was too warm when added to the frosting and caused it to melt a bit.
Hi! what size is the cake?
There are three 8-inch layer.
Made this cake and it is sssoooo good. Only problem was my frosting was runny. So I added 1 tablespoon meringue powder and it worked like a charm! Will make this again, but will wait for the cooked flour milk mixture to cool to room temp before adding in butter. Thank you for sharing!
I don’t like caramel very much. Would I be able to make the frosting and omit the caramel or replace it with milk if it is too thick? Or do you have another frosting recipe suggestion. Thank you!!
Hi Becca, I think you could omit it and add more milk or cream if it needs to be thinned out.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! The cake looks amazing and sounds so yummy…
I would love to make it for my daughter’s second birthday. But do you think I could bake the cake all in one pan and then cut it into 3 discs? Or do you think that the cake will break into pieces…? I am not sure about the texture and do not want to destroy it ;-)
Also, I was wondering which layer cake is your all time favorite? I want to do a second cake and I can’t decide which one as they all look fantastic!
Hi Aline, I think there would be way too much batter to put it all in one pan – it would overflow. As for my very favorite layer cake – definitely the peanut butter cup overload cake!
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/peanut-butter-cup-overload-cake/
I made this for christmas dinner tonight & it was AH-MAZING! I was worried about the frosting but it came together wonderfully & was so creamy & caramelly I could have eaten it straight. Everyone loved it& my 1 year old nephew couldn’t get enough of it!
Hey there! I only have 9″ round pans, how long should I bake the cake for? I was thinking maybe check it after 25mins?
Hi Kelly, That would be a good point to start checking, it will definitely take less time. Enjoy!!
I used 9″ pans and the cooking time was only about 5-10 minutes longer than stated in recipe. Use the stick method to determine if it is done on the inside and you con’t go wrong!
This is a very good cake, worthy of special family gatherings and events! I made it exactly as written. The cake is just a good, sturdy apple cake, that I think tastes a bit better the next day, as is the way of spice cakes. I did make the frosting as written, however, for those of you who were having a devil of time getting it to come together, you may want to try a different technique. Because so many people were having trouble with this frosting, I researched flour-based buttercream and came across an excellent tutorial by another food blogger, The Tough Cookie. She explained why mixing the flour pudding into the butter, rather than vice versa, achieves better results …. and it worked! Here’s the link to her tutorial:
http://thetoughcookie.com/2015/06/07/how-to-make-flour-buttercream-or-ermine-buttercream-the-battle-of-the-buttercreams-2-0/
Instead of adding the butter to the cooked flour/cream/sugar mixture, I whipped the butter and vanilla, then slowly added the cooled flour ‘pudding’ in parts to the butter. I then added the salted caramel sauce. The frosting came together beautifully and it sure didn’t take 20-30 minutes of whipping!
Great cake! Looks so impressive that the oohs and aahs begin before you even cut into it!
I am making this cake for Thanksgiving and need to transport it and then store it for a few days. I baked the cakes already (they smell amazing!) and froze the layers. Do you think this frosting will keep OK if I make it in advance and store it well chilled for a few days before frosting the cake? I’ve done this with regular buttercreams but I’ve never cooked one before.
Hi Sarah, Yes, this should keep fine in the refrigerator for a few days. Just let it come to room temperature before filling and spreading.
Hi Michelle! I want to make this cake for my sister-in-law’s baby shower. Do you think the frosting would pipe well? I have made a flour based frosting before but can’t remember how sturdy it was!
Hi Monica, I’m not sure what type of decorations you’re planning to pipe, but it is a softer frosting. I would probably make a separate small batch of decorator icing for whatever decorations you want to do, just to be safe.
Wow, these are so amazing, thanks for sharing this.
Will definitely gonna try them, my kids will love them :)
I’m working on this cake now. The cakes came out beautifully! I’m not a huge fan of cloves so I only used 1/2 teaspoon of cloves and allspice and I thought that balance was perfect for me. The frosting is scary for me. I’ve never done a flour based frosting and I’m worried it won’t set up but every time I’m patient and wait a few minutes and check it in the mixer it’s thicker. It really does take patience, it was pure soup when I started and now looks like slightly loose frosting. This did take a good 20 minutes at least but it’s coming together!
Oh my goodness it was worth everything! This is probably the best frosting I’ve ever made or had! It took like 30 minutes but it happened, worth it!
I made this for a family function yesterday. Just incredible. Next time I’ll likely make it in stages as it took all day, but just such a great outcome. Love, love, love this cake!
Feel hungry…
Will try this at home for my lovely husband :)
Thank you Michelle, for providing the link to your top 10 favorite cakes! They all look wonderful! Have a great day!
Hi Michelle! This cake looks perfect! I bet it is absolutely divine! You say this is one of the best five cakes you make. What are the other four best cakes? I look forward to your reply!
Hi Dana, Here is a post I did last year on my top 10 favorite cake recipes: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/top-10-list-favorite-cake-recipes/
Planning on making this tonight for a fundraiser! Just wondering how important it is to use whole milk, would using 1% be okay?
Hi Morgan, Since you are making this for a fundraiser and can’t afford to have a “re-do” I really recommend using the whole milk. I have not used a low fat milk and am not sure how the decreased fat might affect the final product.
For some reason, which I no longer remember, something happened in the middle of me saving this recipe from your site (which I always do for EVERY recipe I save into my own standardized format for my use for various reasons) into my own documents and cause me to not have all of the recipe. This was at many many months ago. I am SO glad I stumbled on it in my files again as it ended up in a VERY bizarre spot (I thinking my computer must have crashed at that point) which I think was somehow meant to be. So opening up the blog posting all over again I went back and read everything you wrote about your experience with this cake and I noticed the statement your husband made about this being one of your best five cakes you’ve ever made. What I would like to know………..what are the other four he feels are your best? I had a very BAD experience this past summer at our carnival in town with salt and caramel and its caused me to be very very wary of wanting to make ANYTHING anymore with this gourmet salt trend that’s big right now. I have a feeling at the carnival food stand, and this is what’s odd, is that this one has been coming there to the same place and I think the same ladies for years. For an adult in theirs 50s I am worst than almost any kid out there when it comes to both cotton candy and candy apples, always have been. I’m torn about 50/50 if given a choice between the two apples of caramel ones and candy ones. I almost ALWAYS prefer nuts 98% of the time so what I do is purchase about 3 or 4 apples in a selection of choices to eat over the next day or two till I walk back down to the carnival grounds in a day or two to get more carnival food. Of COURSE I would NEVER let a child in my care do such a crazy thing (actually as that fun aunt I probably would) but you know what, I’m FORCED due to factors beyond my control (if I don’t want to get nauseous and sick or to GREATLY increase my chances of getting cancer somewhere in the tummy area) to have to endure gluten free foods everywhere now in life. I’ve had to give up or tolerate a second-best in flavor/texture most of the time more foods I love than I could ever count right now. Cotton Candy and Caramel and Candy Apples are one of the FEW treats I can still have in their original state. I think I’m entitled. Besides, the apples ARE healthy for me, right? Anyway, just imagine my horror and tremendous disappointment when I came home one evening,after making my purchase I took a bite of this beautiful caramel apple and it was SO salty I nearly gagged. I literally almost cried. I had waited WEEKS to get these. I THINK someone tried their hand at doing the “salted caramel” trend, had NO idea what they were doing and completely ruined it. I was so upset I couldn’t even go back for the rest of the week.
But…..its not very often you give such overwhelmingly high praise for something as you have this cake AND based on your husband’s enjoyment of the cake AND the rest of your family I’m willing to trust YOU because I’ve been following your blog longer, for YEARS, than almost every other one in my very very long list. (and that’s saying something if you saw how many I get emails from). So you’ve convinced me to try and go in with an open mind and some open tastebuds to give a “salted caramel” item another try in life. But don’t forget, I STILL want to know what those other 4 cakes are that your husband considers your best. I’m VERY curious to know if they’re also on my list and the types that most people enjoy the most.
This cake is amazing! It was my second layer cake ever and it turned out exactly how I thought it would! I made it for our Christmas dinner and everyone were blown away! Thank you so so so much! Oh and the leftover caramel…was a VERY nice bonus. Thank you!
Can it be frozen prior to frosting?
Hi Jaynie, Yes, I think that would be fine!
Hi I am making this cake and using it for a tiered wedding cake. Do you think this icing is suitable for using when doing a two tier cake?
I have made this cake before and it is sensational.
Hi Nic, I don’t think that the frosting is stiff enough for stacking :(
I tried this cake and it was very good. I want to make it again in 2 or 3 days. Thanks
I wanted to love this cake, having read the reviews that wax rhapsodic about its many delights. I really did. All those reviews, plus the CCC’s stamp of approval couldn’t possibly be wrong. So I planned it for Christmas Day dessert.
Well, I have to say that for all the hype, I am left a bit puzzled. No denying, it had many virtues. The cake was sturdy, and not prone to breakage. It assembled tall and beautiful. Mime looked virtually identical to the pictures. The frosting was delicious, having been laced with the salted caramel from this website. It was creamy smooth, and not too sweet, went on like a dream. I’d make the frosting again, in a heartbeat.
The cake was moist… Too moist, as it turns out, for our taste. The texture was almost sodden. Whereas it was completely baked through, it almost felt like it wasn’t. Weird, I know, right? Could it have been the applesauce overload? I believe it probably was. Once you couple that with the 3 sticks of butter, it was just overly heavy for us. The taste was good, but not extraordinary. Aside from its impressive appearance, no one was blown away. Usually, anything I bake is inhaled. Here we are, almost a week later, and there is still a significant hunk left. Hate to be the lone voice swimming upstream on this one, but I was surprised to find it disappointing at best.
I was wondering how I could use actual apples in the recipe? My husband asked for an apple and caramel cake, similar to the one we had for our wedding and I’ve been trying to replicate the recipe. This seems very close but our cake had apple pieces throughout – so do you think I could use half a cup of oil and 3 cups of shredded apple would be an even substitute for the 4 cups of applesauce? I’d love to know your thoughts on this.
Hi Maryam, I have not tried to do those substitutions and am not sure how they would affect the cake. Let me know if you try them!
Hello!! I tried this cake and it was AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing it with all of us. I love everything about it. I want to make it again, but as mini-cupcakes this time. Is it ok to half the recipe?
Thank you so much. :)
Hi Aisha, So glad you enjoyed the cake! I haven’t halved this recipe, but I think it would work out okay.
Oh my gosh indeed, Michelle.. I halved the recipe and tried them out as mini cupcakes. They were amaaaaazing! Love love love this recipe! Thank you again :))
Unfortunately my icing curdled after beating it for so long because it wouldn’t go fluffy. Then when I tried to assemble the cake I think the layers were the tiniest bit still warm so the entire thing fell apart. It was seriously disappointing because everything tasted fantastic! But it was beyond help so it had to go in the bin :(
Do you need a paddle board what? Is there a substitute ? Im a rookie baker haha just want something different for thanksgiving. Thanks
Hi Rosie, I’m not sure what you’re referring to? Paddle board?
Wondering if I could usethe caramel sauce from a can of sweetened condensed milk instead?
Hi Erin, Dulce de leche should working okay in the frosting, but it will likely be too thick to pour over the top of the cake as I did in the photos.
Hmm…ok, thank you! I’m trying to find a good salted caramel frosting. I have never made real caramel before so I’m thinking dulce de Leche might be an easier way to go to try out your frosting. :) Or maybe I’ll get brave and try to make the real caramel sauce. ?
Hi! I found this recept a few days ago and I planning to make it for my daughter’s birthday, but I have no idea what the “unsweetened applesauce” is. I live in the Netherlands and we dont have it. Do you think I make this sauce by myself, is there a recept for? Thanks for your help.
Hi Nikolett, Unsweetened applesauce is simply applesauce (store-bought or homemade) that has no added sugar.
I love salted caramel and I love apple, never thought of putting them together but 100% going to try that! Really well made, lovely blog too.
I made a half batch of this recipe and baked it in a 9×13 pan. It took 33 minutes in my oven. The cake, including frosting was only 1 3/4 ” high but SO delicious and moist! I cut back the cinnamon, allspice and cloves because of personal preference. A drizzle of salted caramel sauce over the top. It is so tender and just wonderful!!! Thanks for posting.
I’ve made this cake before and LOVED it and I’d like to make it again, BUT for a smaller group- has anyone successfully halved this recipe? If so, how? I’m a bit of a dunce and would love specific instructions!!!
Side note- this is my favorite cake I’ve ever made. Ever. And I’ve made a decent number of cakes.
Wow! the cake looks yummy. I’d really appreciate a bite
I’m wanting to make an apple spiced cake with cream cheese frosting for my sons 1st birthday. Would this be good with cream cheese frosting? Is it too dense?
Hi Kristin, It is a very dense cake, which is why I think the lighter frosting pairs so well. I do think that cream cheese frosting is always fabulous, though. Go for it!
I love your salted caramel recipe, and when I saw this recipe in the Huffington Post, I knew I’d have to try it. I, too, will have to make my own applesauce, since Taiwan doesn’t seem to have it, but I found slow cooker recipes for it, looks simple.
hey, this looks great, but how do you make apple sauce if not somewhere you can buy it? (Or have any idea what it is…)Would it just be stewed apples? and if so cooking or desert apples and what consistency and would you sieve it?
Must figure out how to incorporate a little bourbon in there … making this one for sure!
Hi
This recipe sounds amazing! I’m planning to try it but want it to work as a wedding/celebration cake and would therefore need to ice it in fondant/sugarpaste. I was just wondering if you’d tried that? Also, I know you mention about keeping it wrapped or in an airtight container – I assume that it’ll be ok for a few days at room temp once it’s iced in fondant?
Thanks in advance,
Sinead
Hi Sinead, I have not tried covering this particular cake in fondant; if do, though, yes, it would be fine for a couple of days at room temperature. I think I would serve it within 2 days, though.
Hi! First of all, I LOVE your blog. I tried this recipe yesterday. The cake itself was to DIE for. Simply beautiful, delicious. Just perfect. The buttercream, however, gave me a bit of a headache. I let the milk,cream and sugar thicken 10 minutes and when I put them on the mixer, after about 2 minutes on high, they turned solid and started to crumble. I was left with a very coarse crumble. I then followed the recipe and it did turn somewhat fluffy, but it was very granulated. Still delicious, but I don’t know if it was the intended texture or not (I figured you’d have clarified if this were the case, so I’m leaning towards “I messed it up”). Did I let it dry out too much when thickening it? Is this normal?
Anyway, like I’ve said, LOVE your blog and this recipe is just too good to be true! Thanks in advance!
Hi – I am making this cake for a friends wedding but they want more of a caramel flavor. Do you think the clove and allspice could be reduced and caramel extract added to give it more of a caramel flavor?
I made this cake as a tester and they loved it there wasn’t a single slice left, just trying to see how to make it more caramel. Thanks in advance!
Hi Lynne, I’ve never used caramel extract, but your idea sounds like it could work.
Well, I made it, and my cakes are perfect. And that buttercream…where has that been all my life. Also, your salted caramel sauce recipe was perfect as well. I would marry you just from those two recipes alone, but alas, I am a man for men. Sorry ’bout it.
I made this cake today. Overall I’m happy with it, but a couple of comments.
1) I think the caramel sauce recipe needs to be slightly tweaked to guarantee success. While putting the sugar into the sauce pan dry and whisking it carefully *might* work, your margin for error is very high. I tried this method twice without success. The first time, the clumped bits of sugar didn’t melt into the liquid sugar before the temps got too high (even on low heat) and the second time, trying to avoid creating big clumps, I scorched the bottom before the sugars on top melted.
A much easier, and much more foolproof method involves using some water. Put 2/3 cup water in the bottom of the saucepan, dump the sugar into the center of the pan (allow it to mound in the center) and turn on the heat. The sugar will melt into the water and the entire mixture will come to a boil, with the sugar fully dissolved, while the sugar is still clear. Let it boil on a medium/high heat until 300 degrees or so, then lower the temps a bit (because at this point most of the water in the liquid will be boiled off and the temp will rise VERY quickly) and keep the heat on until it hits 350.
2) For the buttercream, it’s not necessary to let the mixture come to a boil. Put it on moderate heat, be sure to whisk frequently (or the bottom will scorch) and the mixture will thicken up properly without ever boiling.
3). I always dislike “trimming” cake layers. And it wasn’t really necessary here. Turn the layers out onto cooling racks upside down and leave them that way until completely cool. You will mostly flatten out any “dome” that may have formed. Place the bottom layer upside down on the serving dish. Frost. Place the top layer on upside down as well. This will give you a nice flat top. And “gaps” in between the layers can be filled in with frosting. When frosting the side and tops, it’s easy to get the top and sides to frost completely flat and square if you use a long, flat edged spatula designed for frosting. That flat top is key to keeping the caramel sauce spread on the top and not totally running down the sides and pooling at the bottom.
4) I recommend putting some thin strips of parchment on your serving plate and then placing your bottom layer on it. While frosting, the excess will fall onto the parchment, which is easily tugged out once the cake is frosted. Your serving plate will be clean around the edges. Then drizzle the (cooled) caramel.
Otherwise I think the recipe is fairly sound. I made mine with home-canned applesauce, and am looking forward to eating some tonight at the birthday party I made it for.
Thanks for publishing the recipe! I think I would definitely make it again.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was a tough choice between this and the pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving, but I, and everyone else at dinner, am glad I went with this cake. I wound up substituting half of the applesauce with pumpkin purée and made a cream cheese frosting flavored with pure maple syrup and bourbon. I did cheat a bit and used a store bought salted caramel sauce to top it all, but oh my the deliciousness that is this cake cannot be expressed by mere words!
Jsut wanted to let you know that I have just removed 3 gorgeous layers of apple spice cake from my oven. I live at high altitude in Utah and cakes are especially finicky. I halved the leavening and baked for 40 minutes (the cakes were definitely done in 40 minutes here). FABULOUS to have a recipe turn out. I have gotten much better at baking at this altitude and I know a lot of bakers look for adjusted recipes. I also adjusted the leavening on your UNBELIEVABLE Snickers cake and had a HUGE hit. That one I eliminated the baking powder and just did 1 1/2 tsps. of baking soda. Worked lika a charm. This cake is being made for a book club dessert and I ALWAYS have to test new cakes before I ever serve them for company. Looking at these beautiful layers right now, I am hoping they last till my book club!
I know this comment is a little late to the party but I had to say thank you! This cake took my baking skills from “pretty good home baker” to “they will think I got this at a pastry shop” level. I have made this cake several times now and I use the weights in grams for all the dry ingredients as I think it makes the results very consistent. I even weighed the applesauce and found the jar label off by 7 grams. It took a couple times before I perfected the caramel sauce, but even it now is amazing! I know you don’t usually work with a lot of cakes because they are so time consuming, but I hope you will post more in the future! Delicious!
Kelly
Hi
I was wondering if anyone has tried to make this recipe using loaf tins?
I would like to make a couple of cakes this size, for a charity cake sale….
Any suggestions?
I made this for my bf’s birthday – she loves apple desserts. I would recommend to anyone to try it – it really was an easy layer cake – I was intimidated at first, but it came together without a lot of fuss. However, it was too sweet for my taste, and while there was definitely apple flavor, I expected to taste the apple more. I also had the layers sliding about a bit, but it held together better once it had been in the refrigerator several hours The texture was not what I expected, more like a sweet bread than a cake, and one of my guests thought it was zucchini bread. It’s very moist and dense – on my cake plate, it must have weighed in at least 8 pounds. Certainly a different and special cake, but not worth the hype, and after a pound and a half of butter – I think I would want more return on my fat calories.
Cake a little to sweet for my family. By accident spilled fresh lime juice on the frosting. It was wonderful, a real party in my mouth. To make again I would add lime peel and juice to frosting and cut back on the sugar in the cake
I just made cupcakes out of this and halved the recipe. Very glad I did! The half recipe made 17 cupcakes. I baked them at 325 (w. convection) for maybe 35 minutes? Wasn’t really paying attention to time — just checked for doneness (springing back a bit when touched gently in the middle). I also halved the frosting recipe and it was the perfect amount for piping onto the 17 cupcakes. Of course, I made a full recipe of the caramel so now I have toooons extra. :) Thanks!
this cake is as fabulous as it looks! Made it and everyone is loving it!! Makes one really TALL cake!! Impressive!!!
Made this cake following recipe and delicious! But I made it originally for a party with a dessert table. Comments of how gorgeous, but people said watching sugar – but then they took cupcakes (from another recipe form our site). Have you considered a repost of this recipe for cupcakes? Think it would be fab for Thanksgiving dessert table.
I found the frosting perfect, easy and whipped up fine. The cake….another story. Mine came out very heavy, dense and had the quality of undercooked…although it was. Cooked. Flavor was great, but texture off. Ideas what this professional baker did incorrectly? It also weighed about 6 lbs total! Thanks in advance….
Me too Marsha! I am glad someone else had the same experience – the cake was definitely done when it came out of the oven – tester was completely dry (well, a little oily), but when I cut into the cake half of the layer was so condensed to be almost like it was under cooked. The other half of the layer was more like a sweet bread texture than a cake. I followed the recipe exactly per the directions.
This cake looks unbelievably awesome. I can almost taste the appleyness. Great photos! I can’t wait to try it.
Hi Michelle, this looks like a great recipe and definitely want to try it tonight but I was wondering what your recipe for the apple sauce was. As most recipes i’m finding online include cinnamon and brown sugar. I did not want to add more if that would over power the rest of the flavors in the cake.
Regards,
Cva
I actually don’t make my own homemade applesauce. I just bought a jar of unsweetened applesauce from the store.
Both my mum and I tried the frosting but could not get it to thicken. Is it only 40grams of flour. Anyone else had the same problem?
OK, I just made this cake because it looked so amazing. I followed the directions and think everything came out ok but I found it to be soooooo sweet. I don’t usually like such a sweet cake so I’ll probably not make this again. My kids couldn’t finish their small slice and had to scrape off much of the frosting. But it sure looks pretty :)
I also found it very sweet, April.
OMG this looks amazing!!! I can’t wait to make it for my friends birthday this weekend!
Anisa – The Macadames.xx
http://www.themacadames.com – Discover all things food,travel, style, home decor & more through the lives of twenty-something Aussie women.
i just made this for my mom’s birthday. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! I did not make my own caramel though. I used a good store bought brand and added vanilla salt to it. AMAZING!!! I will definitely make it again!
This icing is the best. I grew up making “mock whipped cream” where you cook the flour and milk to a paste and then after beating sugar and butter together, you beat in the cold paste. This was a similar idea and it is so creamy and silky–I LOVE IT! My husband and guests loved this cake and it is so moist. Great job, MIchelle!
Made this beautiful cake yesterday.
The cake was AWESOME! A complete hit. The frosting, not so much. Oh, it was delish, but not everyone likes buttercream in our family. I think I’ll try a cream cheese frosting next time.
I made the salted caramel, but it was a bit too salty for us, so I made the recipe again without the salt. I used that instead.
All in all, it was great. Thanks, Michelle!
Also, my brother is allergic to peanuts, so I used chopped pecans. Worked perfectly!
I made this yesterday for my husband to take to work and received a lot of love back for it — including a proposal of marriage :-). So many compliments on this yummy one. I made extra caramel sauce for ice cream topping. Thanks so much!
It seems like blasphemy not to create this gorgeous cake as it was originally intended… but would it be possible to make this as cupcakes (making sure to decrease the baking time)? Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Hi Amy, I haven’t tried making this cake as cupcakes, so I can’t give a specific review, but if you try them, let me know how they turn out!
How long did it take for the frosting to reach the fluffy stage?
Hi Tawanda, At least 10 minutes.
This cake is so epic. I can’t handle it. I’ve stopped doing layer cakes completely precisely because it takes so long and now I’m out of practice. I feel like I could never do something like this!
I got a couple of issues. I made this over the weekend.
1. 4 cups of flour = 482 grams (?) I think that is wrong
2. The cloves and allspice come across strong good but strong
3. In your picture your buttercream looks firm. I could NOT get it to firm up and the layers would slide off. Can you make any suggestions? Maybe after awhile go to the whisker attachement? Add more butter? Powdered sugar? Please help as I want to use this for a bake off this week! Oh, the caramel turned out really yummy:)
Hi Matthew, 4 cups of all-purpose flour weighs 17 ounces. 1 ounce = 28.3495 grams. 17 ounces = 481.9415 grams. As for the buttercream, as I mentioned in the post, you do need to let it go in the mixer until it reaches the fluffy consistency. I was pessimistic when it first started mixing that it would actually get to that stage, but it did. Timing may vary depending on how strong your mixer is and the type of beaters used. The frosting is not really “stiff”… it’s a fluffy consistency that spreads well. It does get softer sitting at room temperature for a long time, but when it is chilled, it’s very easy to slice through.
Thank you Michelle. I made it Thursday night. I reduced the buttercream for a bit longer which helped the buttercream firm up. I reduced the cloves and allspice a bit and the apple flavor came through some. It came out just like the picture above and I won 1st place in the bake off. THANK YOU.
Now to your snicker cake;)
Michelle, my mom’s 6th birthday was the 25th and I made this cake for her to celebrate when she came up to Milwaukee to visit us! I was a HUGE hit! She just loved it, and so did my family and friends. Thanks and happy birthday to your mom too! :)
Thank you so much for posting this recipe and the mouth-watering photos Michelle – I was looking for inspiration for the office bake off and think I’ve found it!
Could you just confirm what size tins you used? I know they are 8 inches in diameter but are they shallow – what we in the UK call sandwich tins?
A standard cake pan in the US is 2 inches deep. So the pan would be 8 inches by 2 inches deep.
Hello,
This is a wonderful recipe and something that I am dying to do for my birthday.
I was just wondering if there is anything you would recommend changing to make it a bit more calorie friendly. I was recently put on a diet by my doctor because of some issues I’ve been having. I really want this cake, but I am worried about the amount of sugar.
I was thinking maybe honey instead of sugar for the cake itself, but I am not entirely sure how to convert it.
Anyway, thank you for the recipe and for any answer in advance~
And sorry to be a bother
Cel
Hi Cel, I totally understand it’s quite a bit of sugar, but I don’t really have any suggestions for omitting it. I would not substitute honey – it has totally different properties when baked, and it would significantly alter the texture of the cake. Perhaps just go for a small sliver instead of a big piece?
Made this today! Absolutely wonderful it’s fall in a bite :)
My daughter and I made this cake today. It is wonderful!! Thank you for the recipe, it is just what we were hungry for!
i am making this right now – the batter is delicious! and the cakes are turning out well!… still working on the frosting, i will have faith and stick with it lol
This is just gorgeous and sounds so delicious! I’m making this for my next potluck at church. Thanks so much for the recipe – pinning it!
Does it make a huge difference if I use salted vs unsalted butter? Trying to decide if I need to go buy unsalted to make this. Also, where can I find flaky salt? Is it at regular grocery stores or more specialty ones? Thanks!
Hi Anna, If you use salted butter, you will want to omit the salt from the recipe. As for flaky sea salt, my grocery store has recently started to carry maldon sea salt, but prior to that, I would buy fleur de sel from Williams Sonoma or King Arthur Flour.
Amazing! This is a layer cake to end all layer cakes, gorgeous!
I made this cake yesterday. All I can say is WOW! It’s amazingly tasty! Love love love! And the caramel sauce is just delish! My husband and kids thank you for posting this recipe!
I have been wanting to make this cake too. It looks heavenly! Caramel apple cake is on my fall baking to do list. I love making layer cakes too, though I also don’t do it often. Not enough time in the day!
This cake looks amazing. I just want to have a tiny bite.
Hi, this looks and sounds amazing. Just wondering, if making the apple sauce from scratch, does it matter what kind of apples you use? Also, have you got a recipe for the salted caramel? (not the buttercream, the other topping?)
Hi Jess, I don’t think the type of apple matters. As for the salted caramel sauce, yes, I’ve linked to it above in the recipe, as well as in the text of the post.
Ooo lala – I’d like a large slice of this cake (and by slice I mean the entire cake).
I know myself, and I know that I can never make a cake that looks so perfect, but damn this cake sounds good haha! <3
That is the prettiest slice of cake I have seen in a long time. It looks too perfect to be real!
This cake is absolutely beautiful! I love the photos, just stunning. Pinned!
Hi Michelle, I am a big fan of your work and have tried many of your recipes and had great results and compliments. However living in New Zealand does offer a few challenges when finding substitutes for some ingredients.
This recipe calls for apple sauce is this simply puréed apples or a runnier bottled sauce that has liquid/water/apple juice added?
Hi Bridget, Store-bought applesauce is typically just apples and water. You can make your own homemade applesauce, there are tons of easy recipes online.
Wow, this cake is GORGEOUS. Seriously, this is the best looking cake I’ve seen.
The texture looks absolutely perfect, and the 3 layers just take it to a whole other level.
holy smokes that’s a beautiful slice of cake!!
This cake is seriously perfect! Those layers, that crumb, the frosting and the caramel sauce. I really just need it! Love your photos, so gorgeous!
Your pictures are fantastic ! The cake looks amazing!
Any thoughts on if something can be used as a substitute for eggs? I generally use applesauce, but the cake already has that! Would love to make this next week, but have a guest with an egg allergy.
Thanks!
Hi Sara, Unfortunately, I’m not sure what an acceptable substitute might be for the eggs.
Perhaps you could ask your friend what she normally substitutes in cakes?
I find this list from Chef For You helpful when I’m baking vegan treats. http://chefinyou.com/egg-substitutes-cooking/
this is just stunning and looks absolutely fantastic!
This looks decadent and if it turns out like all of the other things I have made from your site, it will be tremendous.
I’m speechless and that’s actually an understatement! This cake is a masterpiece! I’ve yet to try my hand at homemade salted caramel, but this cake really makes it worth the effort. Thanks for sharing!
My first thought, “Who do I know with a birthday coming up so I can bake this?” Crazy, right???? Who needs an excuse to make this beauty! This puppy is on the menu this weekend just because! Can’t wait! Thanks, as always, Michelle!
This looks amazing!
This looks absolutely delicious! Great job!
Oh my! That looks sensational! I love how apple and spicy it is. I want to reach in and eat it!
WOW LOOKS DELICIOUS. AND SO GEOMETRIC!
That cake looks absolutely delicious. I can never get frosting to look like that for my cakes, what’s your secret?
No secret! I just prepared it as the directions state. Is there something specific you’re trying to achieve?
This cake looks amazing and is perfect for the fall season! I absolutely love when you post these mega cakes, they are works of art and look so delicious! I would love it with the salted caramel butter cream frosting, but do you think a tasty alternative could also be that amazing cream cheese frosting you made for that incredible carrot cake you shared with us? Thanks!
Hi Maxine, I think cream cheese frosting would be fabulous, as well.
Did you have any problems with your frosting? The photos are GORGEOUS but I’ve had problems with their flour-based frostings getting into “frosting” shape, if that makes sense…?
Hi Sally, I didn’t have any issues. I did note in the directions that at first it looked like the frosting wouldn’t actually get “fluffy”, but I just gave it time in the mixer, and it did what it was supposed to do!
You said to be patient with the frosting. How long must one wait? It has been 20 minutes so far and no light and fluffy yet?
Mine was in for 30 and was just a gloopy mess so I gave up with it.
This looks sinfully good! My family, including myself, must be the only ones that prefer cold cakes over room temp though. I think cakes taste better chilled :)
Hi Mandy, There are some that I prefer chilled, as well. Just depends on the cake for me! :)
WOW! This cake is gorgeous!!! I would love a slice. ;)
What a beautiful cake! WOW!!
This cake is beautiful and looks delicious! But I’ve always shied away from making apple cakes with applesauce in them because of bad experiences trying to substitute applesauce in other cake recipes for oil..The texture has always ended up being a little weird even when doing half oil or butter and half applesauce. Did you find that so much applesauce weirdly affected the texture of this cake at all?
Hi Olivia, I don’t think this cake had an add texture at all – it was moist and dense and wonderful. Part of the issue might be substituting applesauce in recipes that are specifically formulated for butter or oil. This cake, by contrast, has been specifically formulated to work with applesauce.
This cake looks amazing!! The layers look so perfect and that frosting looks so good!!
Hi Michelle, what a beautiful cake, too beautiful to eat!!! What do you use to cut a cake so neatly, a serrated knife? Or how did you do it? Thanks.
Hi Ela, I use the knife from this carving set: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/wusthof-classic-carving-set/. It also helps when the cake is slightly chilled.
Gorgeous cake, Michelle, and I love these flavors! Fall definitely isn’t all about pumpkin — caramel apple is right up there as one of my favorite fall treats!
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the baked, boys — I can’t wait for their newest book, later this month!! This is a stunning cake, I’m sure it tasted incredible :)
What a gorgeous cake! It sounds incredible!
Stunning! And with those flavors, I am sure it tastes amazing too!
Oh wow! Utterly fantastic!
Pinned.
Have a beautiful Monday!
My family and friends fell in love with your Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cup Cake. I will be impressing them with this one! I received a Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book for my 30th birthday in August. I wish I could bake for my full time job like you! My 5th graders need me, I guess! :) I love reading your page each day. Keep up the delicious work.
This sounds sooo delicious and those pictures and that cake slice are absolute perfection!
My thanksgiving table centerpiece!!!!! Gorgeous!!!! Is it wrong to feel like this way about cake???? Big sparkly baubles, gorgeous leather handbags and cake…my trifecta! ;)
I just picked up a jar of Apple Salted Caramel sauce at W-S this weekend – I will be trying this cake with the sauce. It’s an absolutely beautiful cake! Thank you!
This has got to be one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve seen! Wonderful photography!
Thank you!! I got on your site to look at cakes to make and you’ve posted a perfect one for me to try! :)
Yum! This fall I’m wanting to bake apple cake, apple butter, apple sauce, apple dumplings, anything apple sounds wonderful. Which is different for me, I usually can’t wait to bake with pumpkin. I wish that I live near an apple orchard. Welcome Fall tonight.
I usually don’t make cakes, but this looks too god to not try. What are the other 4 cakes?
Hi Paula, I just asked him, and he said the other four in his “top five” are the Snickers Cake, Apple-Pecan Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Filling & Praline Frosting, Texas Sheet Cake, and the Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling & Malted Chocolate Frosting :)
He also said the Ho-Ho Cake has to be included in there somewhere :)
I opened this in my email this morning, and thought it was the most gorgeous thing I could look at on a dreary central Ohio Monday morning.
Then I had the soul crushing realization that I could never make a gluten free version of it that would look or taste as good! Stupid Gluten…
WHOA!! I’m about to make a gluten-free version to die for. I do have confidence, wish you were here! :)
Could you send me the recipe??? I like to make an awesome cake for my birthday each year, and this would fit the bill!
what did you end up using to sub for the 4 cups of flours? Please do share as I’d love to make it too
Looks sooooo good/ Question: if I wanted to bake this in 2 9-inch cake pans instead of 3 8-inch cake pans, would it be okay?
Hi Zainab, It’s a lot of batter, and I think it would be too much for 2 9-inch pans.
Thank you! I wonder if it might work if I halved the recipe. I have 9-inch pans but not 8 inch.
I made this in 9-inch pans tonight, and just divided the batter evenly between 3 pans. I reduced the cooking time to 40 minutes. They came out wonderfully.
I made this in 3-9 inch pans. I think it would be better in 3-8 inch pans but it worked fine. Made a very large cake. I think it could serve 20 easily if you cut it like a wedding cake. It was delicious.
This looks incrediby FABULOUS! Pinned it until I take the time to actually make it… Thanks :)
My favorite baker and blogger…My question is this: How do you stay so slim, even when pregnant? That cake looks so good, it is sinful!!
Lots and lots of sharing :)
This is a gorgeous layer cake!! And I can imagine the flavors are absolutely incredible!
I’m currently baking my way through all of the Baked books, can’t wait to get to this recipe. It looks amazing!
Wow! I have to come up with a pretty special occasion to justify making and eating this cake!! I don’t think that will be too hard! Sounds fabulous! Pinned!
You have done it again – now I will be thinking about this cake until I can make it…hmmm better get to the store now! This looks amazing!!
Michelle, this cake looks amazing. I will have to add this to the “bake me list”. You have done an outstanding job again!!!!!
Michelle, Michelle, Michelle, be still my heart… This is GORGEOUS… I think i have been waiting for this cake all my life!!
I don’t think anybody’s fall cake eating will be the same after this beauty! It looks beyond incredible. And there’s salted caramel. So yeah…it’s the best!
What a showstopper!!! The cake looks amazing, moist, so rich and perfect! And then that cooked buttercream that’s spiked with salted caramel sauce…WOW! Pinned :)
I’m going to the store in the morning with a sole purpose to the ingredients to make this cake. Ah if it wasn’t 11pm right now ;D
This looks absolutely amazing! I wonder, though, if it would translate well to cupcakes. Would there be any significant changes?
Hi Margaret, I haven’t tried making cupcakes out of this, so I can’t comment to the potential outcome. You would definitely need to reduce the baking time.
Hi! My family loved this cake. Have you ever followed-up on the idea of cupcakes with this recipe? And if so, what would be the cooking time? I’m thinking this cake as a cupcake would be a smash on a Thanksgiving dessert buffet table.
Hi Renee, I haven’t yet, womp womp. I would start checking them around the 15 minute mark just to be safe.
I reduced the recipe to 2/3 of the original and it yielded about 21 cupcakes which took 20-24 minutes in my oven at 325 degrees as originally instructed. :)