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Food Blogger Izy Hossack makes Salted Caramel Apple Cake
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Salted Caramel Apple Cake

Author Izy

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 4 medium eating apples , peeled and cored
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups (300g) plain flour
  • 3/4 cup (190ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 orange , zested

For the Salted Caramel:

  • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp flaky salt

For the Frosting:

  • 10 oz (300g) cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup (100g) unsalted butter, very soft
  • 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (4 tbsp) salted caramel

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF)/ 160oC convection. Grease and line two 8-inch (20cm) round cake tins. 
  • Cut the peeled, cored apples into rough chunks and place into a medium pot. Add about 1/4 cup (60ml) of water to the pot and place over a medium heat on the stove. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes until the apple chunks are soft. Tip away excess liquid in the pot. 
  • Add cooked apples into the One Stop Chop and turn the handle a few times to roughly chop the apples into a chunky puree. You could also roughly mash the apples with a potato masher. Measure 1 cup (250g) of this puree out - that's how much you'll need.
  • Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Using an electric whisk, beat the eggs, gradually streaming in the granulated sugar. Keep whisking until the mixture is thick, foamy and pale. 
  • Add the 1 cup (250g) apple puree and remaining cake batter ingredients to the bowl of whisked eggs. Fold together with a spatula until just combined - try not to over-mix or you'll knock all the air out. Divide the batter between the two prepared cake tins.
  • Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out of the tins and leaving to cool completely. 

For the caramel:

  • Place the heavy cream and butter in a small pot over a low heat so that the butter melts and the cream starts to steam.
  • Meanwhile heat the sugar in a light-coloured pan over a medium heat. Once the sugar starts to melt, start to tilt and swirl the pan so that the sugar mixes with the melted caramel and evenly melts. Once the sugar has all melted and has turned from light yellow to amber, turn the heat down to low and pour in the warm cream and butter mixture – this will bubble up so be careful. Stir together until smooth then take off the heat and stir in the salt. Let cool to lukewarm.

For the frosting:

  • If you're in the UK, the cream cheese first needs to be strained as it's too wet. To do this, take 2 pieces of paper towel, stack them and place onto a cutting board. Tip away any excess liquid from the cream cheese container and scoop the cream cheese onto the paper towel. Top with 2 more pieces of paper towel. Press down to flatten the cream cheese out into a disk - this increases the surface area which allows more moisture to be blotted. Unpeel the top layers of paper towel and tip the cream cheese into a bowl, discarding the paper towel. 
  • Cut the very soft butter into small cubes and place into the One Stop Chop with the brown sugar. Turn the handle until the mixture is smooth. Add the cream cheese and 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) of cooled caramel and turn the handle again until smooth. You could also make this by blending the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Chill until needed - you may need to whisk it slightly before using if it gets too firm in the fridge. 

To assemble the cake:

  • Remove the baking paper from the cooled cakes. Place one cake layer onto a serving plate. Scoop a few heaped tablespoons of the frosting on top and use an offset spatula to smooth it out over the surface of the cake. Top with the second cake layer. Scoop a few more tablespoons of the frosting on top and frost the top and sides of the cake, using more frosting as needed - I like to go light on the frosting on the sides here as we're pouring caramel on top too. 
  • Once frosted, pour the remaining salted caramel you made earlier over the whole cake - if the caramel is too thick to pour at this point you can briefly warm it on the stove until it's just slightly warm (if it's too hot it'll melt the buttercream). You can decorate the cake with apple chips if desired or leave it as is. 

Notes

Caramel: Place the heavy cream and butter in a small pot over a low heat so that the butter melts and the cream starts to steam. Meanwhile heat the sugar in a light-coloured pan over a medium heat. Once the sugar starts to melt start to tilt and swirl the pan so that the sugar mixes with the melted caramel and evenly melts. Once the sugar has all melted and has turned from light yellow to amber, turn the heat down to low and pour in the warm cream and butter mixture – this will bubble up so be careful. Stir together until smooth then take off the heat and stir in the salt. Let cool for 5 minutes then stir in the rum. Leave to cool completely. Bake 180C 22-25 min