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?
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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 :)