Caramel Apple Spiced Cake: Perfect for a Cloudy Day

Still working through all the apples from apple picking, I knew I needed to make something else up. I already had pies, turnovers, strudel, you name it. But I had too many apples and still needed to make another treat. This time I took my favorite spiced cake and added apples to bring some more flavor and moisture. Let me tell you, the cake was sooo moist. The apples cooked slightly in the cake and had a nice soft texture without being complete mush and the extra moisture added to the cake made it melt in the mouth.

Of course you could top these with a nice buttercream but I wanted a nice caramel apple flavor without dipping multiple apples and personally I'm not the biggest fan of buttercream. So I whipped up a small batch of my favorite caramel sauce but added more cream to get a thinner consistency that can soak into the cake more. It does soak while warm but once cooled doesn't as much so if you want a nice soaked apple cake, add the caramel warm. Check out the recipe below and let me know how it goes if you try it at home. Simple recipe with a couple apples to make a few treats for family or the neighbors.

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Caramel Apple Spiced Cake

169g Unsalted Butter, soft

120g Granulated Sugar

120g Brown Sugar

2 ea. Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla

125g Milk

210g All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch Salt

1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Ground Clove

250g Diced Apples (about 2)

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.

3. Add the vanilla and beat in.

4. In a clean bowl, whisk the flour with spices, salt, and baking powder.

5. While mixing the butter mixture on low speed continuously, add about 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by a steady steam of half the milk. Continue in a fluid motion with another 1/3 of flour, remaining milk, and final amount of flour.

6. Take the bowl off the mixer and mix thee apples in by hand.

7. Measure out into 18 lined muffin cups or two 6-inch prepared pans.

8. Bake at 350℉, cupcakes 20-25 minutes cake for 50-60 minutes.

9. Allow to cool slightly before topping with warm caramel.

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Caramel Topping

150g Granulated Sugar

50g Corn Syrup or Honey

Splash Water

25g Unsalted Butter

150g Heavy Whipping Cream

Splash Vanilla

Pinch Salt

1. In a small sauce pot, add the water, corn syrup, and finally sugar.

2. Cook on high heat until sugar melts and caramelizes.

3. While cooking, warm cream until steaming slightly.

4. Remove caramel from heat and add butter. Mix until melted.

5. Slowly add cream until fully incorporated.

6. Add vanilla and salt and mix in.

7. Pour into a clean bowl and allow to cool slightly before pouring over cupcakes.

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