Autumn/fall is well and truly here and as the temperatures fall, for me nothing feels cosier than pottering about the kitchen in general and some good old-fashioned baking in particular.
So here’s my Autumn Apple Caramel Cake, which can obviously be made any time of the year but is special particularly during the beautiful season it has been named in honour of.
And with classic autumnal things like pumpkins, caramel apples, falling leaves and Halloween in the air, I feel this is one of the most perfect cakes to celebrate the fall season with.
A classic bundt cake is as old-fashioned as it gets. Add a retro style apple cake into the equation and you have all the makings of my ideal way to spend an autumn/fall afternoon.
I will admit that I am a bit obsessed with bundt pans which is frankly, a rather tragic obsession as at the moment I own just two bundt pans in total. Boo hoo!
I would love to get my hands on a couple of those intricately sexy Nordic Ware bundt pans but in the meantime, my trusty old and much less intricate no-brand-in-particular bundt pans will have to suffice. And honestly, they don’t do a bad job at all.
This Autumn Apple Caramel Cake is moist, fragrant and nutty and can actually hold its own without the caramel drizzle.
My family loves this cake either with or without the caramel drizzle and we enjoy it cut into generous slices with cups of hot tea.
There is a subtle hint of cinnamon in there too – you can tell it’s somewhere in the background but just enough so as not to overpower the delicate apple taste and fragrance.
And of course, the dehydrated apple wheels on top transform this simple cake into a stunning masterpiece.
This Autumn Apple Caramel Cake is also a fond reminder of two food related memories from my childhood.
One is of a cookbook brought from London by my eldest maternal Aunt back in the ’80s that had, amongst some rather imaginatively named recipes such as “Lightning Cake” (with the tag line ‘Made in a moment, gone in a flash!’), an old-fashioned “Farmhouse Apple Cake”.
I loved imagining myself in a rustic English farmhouse and munching on slices of that apple cake with a thick caramel icing atop.
The other memory this cake triggers is that of a cooking class in Daharki during the early ’90s.
A group of French engineers were on a visit to the Engro (Exxon back then) plant and their wives held a cooking class for the colony ladies, teaching them some French recipes.
There were two types of quiches, a basic quiche and a mushroom quiche and two kinds of rustic cakes – an almond cake and an apple cake.
I still have those recipe printouts somewhere and this apple cake reminds me of that time.
I hope you enjoy making this Autumn Apple Caramel Cake as much as I do. Thanks to STL Cooks for the apple cake recipe, Cooking With Ruthie for the recipe that I based the caramel drizzle on and to Entertaining With Beth for the decorating idea.
AUTUMN APPLE CARAMEL CAKE
Recipe Type: Dessert Author: Alice In Eatland
Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Total Time: 60 Minutes
Serves: 6
Autumn Apple Caramel Cake – moist, fragrant & nutty with a hint of cinnamon & a beautiful caramel drizzle. Perfect for autumn / fall!
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar
- 1 large egg (or 2 small eggs)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups grated apples*
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
- If using a small bundt pan (around 5″ or so in diameter) please refer to the note** below in which I also detail the pan size and shape I used to bake the cake in these photos.
- If using an 8″ round pan, a 7″ square pan or any other similar sized pan of your choice, oil it evenly.
- Sprinkle some plain flour and shake and tilt the pan until it is evenly coated. Tap off any excess flour.
- Now on to the cake batter. Toss the nuts in a few teaspoons of the flour until well coated***. Set aside.
- Beat the oil, sugar, egg(s) and vanilla until thick and pale.
- Stir the flour, salt, baking soda and ground cinnamon together and fold into the wet mixture.
- Stir in the grated apple followed by the flour dusted walnuts or pecans.
- Pour mixture into your prepared pan.
- Bake 30 – 40 minutes or until skewer or toothpick inserted near the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove baked cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Loosen the edges of the cake slightly with a knife, turn upside down onto the cooling rack, gently removing the pan as the cake inverts out onto the rack.
- Cool cake completely to room temperature.
- Store airtight.
DEHYDRATED APPLE CHIPS
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminium foil.
- Place 1 medium or large apple on its side on a chopping board.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the apple as thinly as possible into wheels.
- Place the apple wheels in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place in preheated oven.
- Keep an eye on the apple chips. They should begin to turn a pale brown, look dryish and the edges should begin to curl up in places.
- Make sure they don’t over brown or burn!
- Once this stage is reached, flip them over with a pair of tongs.
- Continue baking until the other side is also brownish, dry and curling up.
- Remove from oven, transfer the apple chips to a wire rack and cool completely to room temperature.
- Store in an airtight jar if not using right away.
CARAMEL DRIZZLE
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup light or dark soft brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- 1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
METHOD
- Place the brown sugar, butter and milk in a pan and stir over medium heat.
- When the butter and sugar have melted and the mixture reaches the boil, remove from heat.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- Whisk in the icing sugar until smooth.
- Place cake on a wire rack with a parchment paper lined tray underneath to catch icing drips.
- Spoon the warm caramel drizzle all over the top of the cake so that it runs down over and drips down the sides.
- I pour the warm caramel drizzle in a Pyrex measuring cup and pour it all over the cake. I find this much easier and quicker than the spoon method.
- If using dehydrated apple chips / wheels or any other decoration (such as nuts), place them into position immediately after pouring the glaze so that they adhere to the cake before the icing sets, which it does rather quickly.
NOTES
*I used two kinds of apples to make this cake – one and a half each of Granny Smith apples (my favourite) and local red apples.
I did not peel the apples and used a box grater to grate them.
Peeling the apples before grating makes the process easier so it is definitely recommended.
**Oil your bundt pan very well, using a pastry brush if you have it, making sure you reach and coat all crevices, nooks and crannies evenly.
Place your well greased pan upside down on a rack with a parchment paper lined tray underneath to catch excess oil.
Oil begins to pool inside bundt pans once they’re greased so this step will prevent it from doing that while you finish preparing your batter.
You can spray your bundt pan with a cooking spray containing flour instead of oiling it.
I do not flour my bundt pans because I find that the baked cakes seem to crust in places if flour is used.
I have used a 10″ silicone bundt pan and double the recipe to make the cake in the photos.
This particular bundt shape is known as The Cathedral.
A cake baked in a silicone bundt can take longer to bake compared to a metal pan.
If using a silicone bundt, place the prepared pan on a baking sheet before pouring in the batter and place it in the oven on top of the baking sheet.
The baking sheet will provide stability to your silicone bundt pan which can sometimes be a bit wobbly and unsteady.
***This step of tossing the nuts in a little flour will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking.
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