Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze

Joshua, who brought a catalog along for his visit to Santa, knows exactly what he wants for Christmas. I hope Santa was taking notes!

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Earlier this week I had to make a cake for a morning coffee. I wanted to bake something that was seasonal, easy to make and just a little different than standard holiday fare. I found one in the book Southern Cakes, written by Nancie McDermott, that was exactly what I was looking for. I thought the cake would be too sweet for my own taste, but I knew others would love the apple and caramel confection. To my great surprise I found that I like it, too. The small piece I'd cut for myself was delicious and the caramel glaze that covered the top of the cake was amazingly good. The cake is definitely a keeper and, if you have not tried it, I hope you will soon. Here's the recipe.

Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Nancie McDermott

Ingredients:

Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups finely chopped apples

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Brown Sugar Glaze

1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan. Set aside.

2) Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork to mix everything together well.

3) In a large bowl, beat eggs with a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and foamy. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla and beat well. Stir in flour mixture with a wooden spoon and continue stirring batter just until flour disappears. Add apples and nuts, stir to mix them into the batter until fairly uniform. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

4) Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly and is beginning to pull away from sides of the pan. Place cake (still in the pans) on a wire rack and spoon over the glaze while still hot.

5) To make glaze: Combine brown sugar, butter, vanilla and cream in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Then cook for 3-5 minutes.

6) Spoon hot glaze all over hot-from-the-oven cake. Let glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan. Yield: 12 - 16 servings.content source