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.
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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!
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!