Cinnamon Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce
This cinnamon cake is filled with chunks of tart apples and crunchy nuts. Then, to top it off you drench it in the most amazing caramel sauce.
Story Behind the Recipe
The kids are in school and fall is in the air, at least in the early mornings. In fact, my husband and I spent a weekend in Provo, Utah recently, and as we walked out of the hotel each morning the cool mountain air greeted us. I was immediately transported back to my freshman year at BYU and walking to those early 8am classes that no one warned me not to take!
I love a good autumn breeze in the morning and at night. It always makes me think of football games, picking apples, and baking yummy treats.
With thoughts and feelings of fall stuck in my head, I knew I needed to create something that would bring in those fall flavors. It may be a little too early for pumpkin baking, but what about apples? I whipped open my book with all of my grandmother’s recipes and browsed it remembering seeing a few apple recipes.
I landed on her “fresh apple cake” recipe. This recipe was given to her from her friend Frances Hoskins. My grandmother worked at the local community college and Frances worked as a secretary there. The crazy thing is this was way back in the 1970s-1980s.
I love using these recipes of my grandmother’s and that they are in her handwriting, but I have to admit there is some translating that comes along with using these recipes. Such as, what is Oleo? What is considered a 3qt pan? Is there something special about Crisco oil versus other oils? And why did they use so much margarine back in the day?
Tips for Making the Cinnamon Apple Cake
This recipe called for a TON of oil, so I decreased that and added applesauce instead. I thought it made sense, since this is an apple cake after all. There also wasn’t any cinnamon in the recipe. Apples and cinnamon just go together like peanut butter and jelly, so that was a no brainer. I also added a tablespoon of lemon juice on top of the diced apples. Lemon juice really makes apples taste, so that was a must.
If you are looking for a cake to ring in those cooler summer nights, this is the perfect cake. Hopefully, the leaves will be changing colors soon. Don’t forget the brown sugar sauce – it just takes the whole entire cake over the top!
Enjoy!
Additional Recipes Similar to Cinnamon Apple Cake
Cinnamon Apple Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup applesauce
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cups chopped apples about 3-4 small apples
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick butter
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
Instructions
- Peel and dice your apples. I prefer to use Honeycrisp apples because I love the flavor. Any apple would work here, even tart apples. Place diced apples in a bowl and squeeze 1 TBS of fresh lemon juice on top and toss until all are coated. Set the apples aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all of your wet ingredients and combine with a whisk.
- With a mixing spoon, fold in your flour, cinnamon, soda, and salt until all flour is incorporated. The batter will be thick.
- Stir in your apples and pecans and then pour into a greased and flour bundt pan.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 75-80 minutes. The cake should not jiggle but should bounce back slightly.
- When it comes out of the oven, begin making the brown sugar sauce. In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, butter, and milk and boil for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove cake onto whatever serving platter or cake plate you are using. Then pour the sauce over the warm cake.
How much flour did you use??
There are 3 cups of all-purpose flour in this recipe. Let me know if you have any other questions- Mary Susan
This is so yummy! I can eat the caramel sauce by the spoonful out of the pan!
I love eating it out of the pan too.