Caramel Apple Cake with Caramel Buttercream

BEST EVER Caramel Apple Cake

Celebrate the apple season with this caramel apple cake. Made with fresh apples, a hint of spice, layered with caramel buttercream and drizzled with more delicious homemade caramel sauce. Whether you make this for a celebration or festive dinner this will have everyone talking about it for days.

Last week I made this cake to celebrate the Jewish new year, Rosh Ha Shannah. Of course, at this time apple and honey always take a center stage. Every year, I almost always take my apple and honey Tarte Tartin because it’s Ziv’s favorite dessert. And I always make my easy apple tart with Puff Pastry because it’s my Rhea’s favorite and of course the Aadi’s favorite is the apple strudel.

Guess what? this time I decided to make one of my favorite desserts. My caramel apple cake. Sometimes, you just have to do it. Right? Now, you must forgive me for blowing my own trumpet here but OMG!! Everyone was raving about this cake and I was so overwhelmed with their appreciation.

About this caramel apple cake (Save/Pin)

To put it simply, it’s absolute apple heaven. If you love apples you will not be able to stop at just one slice. (don’t ask me how I know that). I think I put on a few extra pounds this week from all the apple and pumpkin desserts I made.

The cake, of course, is delicious on its own with delicious spiced apples. The applesauce adds so much more to batter while apples themselves stay soft and tender. My caramel buttercream I shared with you yesterday is made with real caramel sauce, which again I have shared with you previously. I made two consistencies of the caramel sauce in one recipe, one for the drip and the other for the buttercream so you have a wonderful thick firm caramel buttercream consistency.

Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

• Apples – You can use any apples you like to eat for this cake. The apple cook in the cake batter but still stay nice and tender. I have used golden delicious today but any apple you like to eat would work for this recipe.
• Applesauce – I prefer to use unsweetened applesauce to add more apple flavor to the cake but if you don’t have apple flavor you may substitute it with more buttermilk.
• Brown sugar – The light brown sugar brings the added flavor of molasses to the cake which adds a nice hint of fall richness. I would not recommend dark brown sugar as the flavor of molasses will dominate the cake.  If you don’t have light brown sugar – you can use white sugar and add a tablespoon of molasses instead.
• Buttermilk – it takes five minutes to make homemade buttermilk (here’s how) so there is no reason why you need to substitute.
• Vanilla – Always use a good quality vanilla extract as it makes a huge difference. It can be expensive but you can also make your own vanilla extract, bean paste or sugar.
• Spices – I think nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon are very fall flavors but you can also use pumpkin spice, or gingerbread spice mix instead.

Useful Tips and Tools

• If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go ahead and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet.You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
• Having said that, a simple Bowl, whisk and Spatula with a little extra effort will do the trick too. 
• Personally, I believe in weighing ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scaleone of the most valuable items when baking.
• The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
• I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. Personally, I like to bake three layers rather than torte my cakes and it bakes faster too. For most of my layer cake recipes on this blog I use 3 x 6-inch round pans or 2 x 8-inch round pans.
• Once baked always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This encourages air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
• Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If the cake bakes too quick or too slow compared to the time given it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration. An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly

How to Make A Caramel Apple Cake (Save/Pin)

Prepare

• Preheat the oven to 170 C/340 F
• Grease and line 3  x 6 inch round pans or 2 x 8 inch round pans.
• Mix the spices together and set aside.

Prepare apples

• Peel, core and chop apples into 1/2 inch pieces
• Add half the mixed spice and 3 tbsp flour (use from the measured flour)
• Combine well and set aside.

Prepare dry ingredients

• Combine together the flour with baking powder, baking soda, mixed spices, and salt
• set aside.

Mix Batter

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Add eggs one at a time
• Followed by the vanilla and applesauce
• Next, add the flour and buttermilk in three additions.
• Lastly, add the chopped apples – combine well but do not over mix.

Caramel Apple Cake Progress Pictures3

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Bake

• Divide the batter between the baking pans
• Spread the top so it’s an even layer.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes clean.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then on a  wire rack until cool completely.

Caramel Apple Cake Progress Pictures7

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Caramel Sauce

• Place the sugar, lemon, and water in a deep light-colored pan (so you can see the color)
• With the heat on medium-low cook the sugar.
• Shake the pan as you need but do not use a spoon. It is important to keep the heat on medium-low so the sugar will caramelize not burn.
• Swirl the pan slowly guiding the heat distribution
• The sugar should now start to color into a golden amber.
• One all the sugar is amber, add in the butter and whisk constantly.
• Followed by the cream. (watch your hands and the mixer will rise when you add the butter and cream)
• Cool for a few minutes in the pan then pours into a glass jar or pot. As the mixture cools it will get thicker.

Caramel Apple Cake Progress Pictures10

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Caramel Buttercream

• Place the butter and salt in the mixer bowl.
• Using the paddle attachment – mix the butter until light and creamy.
• Next, add half a cup of caramel sauce – combine well.
• Add the remaining sauce – combine again.
• Lastly, the powdered sugar – combine well.
• Once all the ingredients have been added – whip for three minutes until the butterscotch is light and fluffy.

Caramel Apple Cake Progress Pictures14

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Assembly

• Level the apple cake layers if they have any dome.
• Layer them with caramel buttercream frosting in between as shown in the video
• Frost the outside with more caramel buttercream – chilling in between steps as necessary.
• Lastly, use the caramel sauce to create the drip as shown in the video.
• To decorate – put any remaining frosting in a piping bag with a piping nozzle
• Create some pattern on the top.

Tips for making this Caramel Apple Cake

• Any apple works with this recipe but granny smith or golden delicious hold their shape well.
• The caramel sauce can be made 3 to 4 days ahead.
• Make sure to whip the buttercream well so it holds its shape. If not the buttercream will be too soft.
• Grease and line the pans with parchment for easy release.
• Keep cakes moist by brushing the layers with simple syrup – simple syrup is a mixture of sugar and water boiled until the sugar is dissolved.
• Cool the cakes for a few hours before frosting or the frosting will melt on warm cakes
• Use cake strips to bake flat cakes.

10 Tip for baking a cake from scratch

10 Tips to Successfully Baking a Cake from Scratch (Recipe included)

Learn how to bake a cake from scratch every single time with these 10 tips, step-by-step progress pictures, video tutorial, and more than 50 cake recipes. Understand cake ingredients and how they work before you can use them to get the best results with desired outcomes. This article is going to make you a better baker.

Frequently asked questions

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Caramel Apple Cake Recipe with Caramel Buttercream

Author: Veena Azmanov

5 from 18 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Calories: 386kcal

$15

Adjust Servings Here: 12 servings

Description

Celebrate the apple season with this caramel apple cake. Made with fresh apples, a hint of spice, layered with caramel buttercream and drizzled with more delicious homemade caramel sauce. Whether you make this for a celebration or festive dinner this will have everyone talking about it for days.

Equipment /Tools

• Stand Mixer
• 3 x 6-inch baking pans
• Kitchen Scale
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Baking Tray
• Oven

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 350 grams All-purpose flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 228 grams Butter unsalted
• 300 grams Brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 60 ml Applesauce unsweetened
• 120 ml Buttermilk
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 3 cups Apples chopped
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

• 120 ml Caramel sauce
• 450 grams Unsalted butter
• 200 grams Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt

CARAMEL SAUCE

• 200 grams sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons -butter
• 120 ml fresh cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Metric – US customary

ADJUST SERVINGS HERE – 12 servings

Conversions – Switch between Metric & US for other measurement options

Instructions

PREPARE

• Preheat the oven to 170 C/340 F
• Grease and line 3 x 6 inch round pans or 2 x 8 inch round pans.
• Mix the spices together and set aside.

PREPARE APPLES

• Peel, core and chop apples into 1/2 inch pieces
• Add half the mixed spice and 3 tbsp flour (use from the measured flour)
• Combine well and set aside.

PREPARE DRY INGREDIENTS

• Combine together the flour with baking powder, baking soda, mixed spices, and salt
• set aside.

MIX BATTER

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Add eggs one at a time
• Followed by the vanilla and applesauce
• Next, add the flour and buttermilk in three additions.
• Lastly, add the chopped apples – combine well but do not over mix.

BAKE

• Divide the batter between the baking pans
• Spread the top so it’s an even layer.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes clean.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then on a wire rack until cool completely.

CARAMEL SAUCE

• Place the sugar, lemon, and water in a deep light-colored pan (so you can see the color)
• With the heat on medium-low cook the sugar.
• Shake the pan as you need but do not use a spoon. It is important to keep the heat on medium-low so the sugar will caramelize not burn.
• Swirl the pan slowly guiding the heat distribution
• The sugar should now start to color into a golden amber.
• One all the sugar is amber, add in the butter and whisk constantly.
• Followed by the cream. (watch your hands and the mixer will rise when you add the butter and cream)
• Cool for a few minutes in the pan then pours into a glass jar or pot. As the mixture cools it will get thicker.

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

• Place the butter and salt in the mixer bowl.
• Using the paddle attachment – mix the butter until light and creamy.
• Next, add half a cup of caramel sauce – combine well.
• Add the remaining sauce – combine again.
• Lastly, the powdered sugar – combine well.
• Once all the ingredients have been added – whip for three minutes until the butterscotch is light and fluffy.

ASSEMBLY

• Level the apple cake layers if they have any dome.
• Layer them with caramel buttercream frosting in between as shown in the video
• Frost the outside with more caramel buttercream – chilling in between steps as necessary.
• Lastly, use the caramel sauce to create the drip as shown in the video.
• To decorate – put any remaining frosting in a piping bag with a piping nozzle
• Create some pattern on the top.

Recipe Video

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Nutrition Information

Calories: 386kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 336mg | Potassium: 222mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 585IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 1.9mg

The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you

Keywords – Apple, Apple Pie Cake, dessert, fall

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it was.Mention @veenaazmanov or tag me on Instagram #veenaazmanov

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