Caramel Apple Cake (Salted Caramel Apple Spice)

In this video tutorial I show you how to make homemade apple spice cake covered with salted caramel buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache, caramel sauce and gourmet caramel apples!  This cake is for giant sweet lovers only! 

Subscribe to Cupcakes and Cardio. 

Happy Halloween!  Today I’m bringing you one last Halloween baking idea for 2015 . . . and I have to say, I saved the best for last! This is an over the top, decadent cake.   Not only is the Apple Spice cake delicious, but the salted caramel buttercream is to die for!  I am totally addicted to the chunks of salt- you must use a coarse salt to get the best results with this recipe.  I used Fluer de Sel, but coarse pink Himalayan salt works really well too.  

I’ve linked the tutorials for the caramel apples and the ganache below in the recipe so that you can make your own homemade ganache (super easy) and the worlds best tasting caramel apples ever.   My local Superstore sells Dulce de Leche caramel sauce, and it was the perfect consistency for this cake.  I tried homemade caramel (from the apple recipe) and I tried caramel sauce, but both of those attempts failed as the caramel ran off the cake too much.  It made for a lovey puddle on the kitchen counter.  If you’re going to venture out and try your own caramel, which I totally encourage, make it thicker than normal so that it doesn’t run so fast off the cake.  You could also pour the caramel on at the last moment to prevent that problem as once the cake is cut open, who cares whether there is a puddle on the counter or not! 

Salted Caramel Apple Spice Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• pinch nutmeg
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cup applesauce

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat in. Mix in applesauce and vanilla.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and incorporate fully. Add milk and mix. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are combined.
5. Divide batter into three pans and bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (120 grams) butter
• 3/4 cup (150 milliliters) dulce de leche (caramel sauce)
• 5 cups (1/2 kilogram) icing sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 milliliters) milk
• 1 teaspoons (5 milliliters) vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) coarse salt

Procedure

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and dulce de leche until fluffy. 
2. Add half of the icing sugar and slowly continue to mix. 
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla and half of the milk. Mix until no clumps remain. 
4. Add the rest of the icing sugar and salt, but do not add any more milk until the icing sugar begins to mix together more completely. 
5. Add one or two more tablespoons of milk until desired consistency is reached. (You will want a thinner buttercream for spreading onto cakes, and a thicker one for piping flowers, or borders.) 
6. Use immediately or store in a sealed container for 2-3 days in the fridge. If you are storing the buttercream in the fridge, allow it to come to room temperature, and remix it briefly before using.

Additional ingredients:

• Chocolate Ganache 
• Gourmet Caramel apples 
• Dulce de Leche (caramel sauce)
• Smarties (or M&M’s)

Cake assembly:

1. Cover and stack cake with Salted Caramel buttercream. 
2. Pour chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, and work the ganache over the edges so that the chocolate drips over the side. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to set the chocolate.
3. Pour caramel sauce on top of the hardened ganache, and work sauce towards the edges so that the caramel drips over the side of the cake. 
4. Place caramel apples on top.
5. Add Smarties as a bottom border, and chopped Smarties to the dripping toppings.
6. Serve immediately. The cake will continue to drip ganache and caramel if kept at room temperature. If not serving right away, keep cake cold in the fridge to help slow down dripping. The cake is best consumed within 2-3 days.

 To make your life a little bit easier, here’s the video for how to make Gourmet Caramel Apples: