Caramel Apple Cake

This caramel apple cake has all the flavors of caramel apples, without breaking your teeth. Filled with apple sauce, apple chunks and even apple juice. It’s so versatile, you can bake it in a bundt pan or in a regular cake pan. Find more olive oil cake recipes here.

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We are anxiously awaiting for fall weather to hit San Diego – not that we are in a rush, as we only recently experienced summer weather. But, I suppose I’m in the Autumn Mood, since I have seen pumpkins and Halloween crap decorations in the stores since July!

Pinterest is full of pumpkin recipes, halloween crafts, costumes and everything else you can think of for the fall season. And since school has started and planning is underway for fall festivals, halloween parties and costumes, I suppose it’s inevitable for me let summer go and embrace the coming season.

Best apples for apple cake

Heirloom Apples are making a comeback here in the US. We all see the Red Delicious, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Fuji apples in the supermarkets. But did you know that over 15,000 other apple varieties that are grown here in North America. How about them apples?

Frieda’s Produce sent me three varieties of these baby apples to snack on:

Cox’s Orange Pippin: (Mostly green with a touch of orange.) This heirloom apple still dominates the English markets. The skin takes on an orange tinge at ripening. Has a juicy, nutty taste and firm flesh. This variety is good for all around use; both in cooking, juicing and eating fresh.

Ribston Pippin: (Green with orange streaky blush.) This apple was grown in 1708 from one of three ‘pips’ (seeds) sent from Normandy to Sir Henry Goodricke of Ribston Hall in Yorkshire, England. It has one of the highest Vitamin C contents, 30mg/100mg. Its yellow flesh is firm and sweet, with a pear taste. Ribston is also the parent of Cox’s Orange Pippin.

Cortland: (Vivid red with a touch of green.) The Cortland heirloom apple was developed in 1898 by Professor S.A. Beach of New York. It is another high quality red apple, which often will have dark red streaks on the outside. Inside you will find a crisp, white flesh and a somewhat tart, sweet flavor. Very juicy. A good salad apple because it does not brown for hours after slicing.

All of them were delicious in this Caramel Apple Cake. And if you can’t find these heirloom apples, feel free to use the more popular Granny Smith, Jona Gold or Braeburn varieties.

Ingredients for caramel apple cake

The beauty of this caramel apple cake is that it has all the flavor and everything you love about caramel apples, but it saves your teeth. Whether you are using a bundt pan or a cast iron skillet, you will line the bottom of the pan with the sweet caramelized apples that inevitably graces the top of your apple cake.

Once baked and cooled, you drizzle this delicious caramel apple icing all over it. Ah, yes. Apples are here and so is Autumn. And you will taste it in every bite of this moist apple cake. 

Baking with olive oil

This apple cake is made with extra virgin olive oil instead of the traditional butter. But wait! Before you click away, trust me when I tell you that you will not miss the butter! I have been baking with olive oil for many years now. It started with my olive oil cookbook and now I have never looked back.

How your cake tastes is dependent on the quality of olive oil you use in your recipe. The best way to tell that your olive oil is good for this apple cake is to taste it by itself. A simple teaspoonful is all you need. You want a smooth buttery flavor, nothing too pungent or peppery.

If the olive oil makes you churn and gag, then it has gone rancid and is no longer good enough for baking or cooking. There are a lot of deceptive oils out there on the market, so be sure to read up my article about baking with olive oil so you know how to choose the best oil.

In the end, I have found that my cakes baked with olive oil are much easier to whip up yet just as moist and delicious as cakes baked with butter.

Continue to Content

Yield: serves 16

Caramel Apple Cake

Print

This caramel apple cake has all the flavors of caramel apples, without breaking your teeth. Filled with apple sauce, apple chunks and even apple juice. It's so versatile, you can bake it in a bundt pan or in a regular cake pan.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1 large granny smith apple
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS light brown sugar, packed
• 1 TBS all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup applesauce
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 6 teaspoon apple juice
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Spray a 10-inch Bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Peel and core apple, then dice and place in a small bowl.
4. Stir in lemon juice, 2 TBS brown sugar, 1 TBS flour, cinnamon and cloves with the apples to coat.
5. In another bowl, whisk together 2 ¼ cup flour, baking powder and salt.
6. In a large bowl, whisk together until granulated sugar, apple sauce, olive oil and 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla until sugar has dissolved.
7. Whisk in eggs with the sugar mixture.
8. In batches, whisk in the dry ingredients into the wet until thoroughly combined.
9. Place the chopped apples in one layer along the bottom of the prepared bundt pan.
10. Pour the cake batter evenly over the apples in the bundt pan.
11. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.
12. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 1 hour before gently loosening the sides of the cake from the pan and inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
13. When the cake has completely cooled, you can make the apple icing.
14. Add 1 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl and drizzle in apple juice, as needed, until icing is thick but pourable, up to 3 teaspoon apple juice.
15. In another small bowl, make the caramel icing, by whisking together ¾ cup powdered sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.
16. Drizzle in apple juice, as needed, until icing is thick but pourable, up to 3 teaspoon apple juice.
17. Drizzle both the apple icing and caramel icing over the cake and serve when ready.

Notes

You can also bake this cake in a 10-inch cast iron pan to make an upside down caramel apple cake.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 118mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 1gSugar: 32gProtein: 4g

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