Before I got married, the mere mention of caramel apple cake would set my blood to boiling. My not-yet-my-husband-still-my-boyfriend’s mother used to make caramel cake regularly for the girl he used to date and I didn’t want anything to do with anything she liked.
Well, except for the guy. I married him. Ha!
We divorced a few years ago, and I’m not mad at caramel cake anymore. In fact, I love it, but I don’t make my mother-in-law’s recipe; I make mine with apples — so it’s caramel apple cake and it has the most delicious caramel frosting.
I make it with whatever kind of apples I have in the house and two medium apples will do the trick just fine.
While the cake is baking, start work on the caramel topping. It takes some babysitting, but trust me, it’s worth it!
When the cake is still hot, pour that caramel-y goodness over the top, and smooth it as best you can before it starts to harden.
Let the cake and frosting cool completely, then cut into squares and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Pssst, I used Dixie Crystals sugar in my caramel apple cake!
Caramel Apple Cake
Ingredients
Caramel Apple Cake
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 medium apples peeled, cored, diced
Caramel Apple Cake Frosting
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Caramel Apple Cake
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9 x 13 x 2-inch cake pan with baking spray containing flour.
- In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until well blended, light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one by one. Mix in sour cream and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients in mixer, combining well. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake 40-45 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack for a few minutes, then spread prepared frosting (below) over top.
Caramel Apple Cake Frosting
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt and combine butter, evaporated milk and sugar. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until mixture has thickened and turned a golden caramel color. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Spread over warm cake. Let cool completely before serving.
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Michele @ Queenbeebaker says
This looks heavenly! It’s seriously calling my name. 😮
Brenda Haines says
I love apple cake! I never thought to put a caramel topping on it. Genius!
Jenna Hudson says
Caramel and apple one of my favorite food combos.With a scoop of ice cream it sounds divine.
Christina Almond says
This looks delicious! I love that the ingredients and simple and straight forward–things that I would easily have on hand!
Wendy says
I love apple cake. I’m going to have to try it with this caramel frosting.
Julie says
This looks yum! I’ve been really craving a caramel dessert lately, and these look delicious!
Alissa Apel says
Yes please! I wonder if Isaak would like this cake for his birthday. I’ll have to ask him. It looks so good!