Jess and I both really enjoyed this recipe. After tasting it and eating on it for several days, I changed the name to Absolutely, Amazing Apple cake because that's just how good it is. Just calling it "apple cake" didn't do this dish justice! I cut my cake into 20 slices and even shared some with my friends Briony and Jen. They both raved about it. In fact, Briony has been bugging me for the recipe for weeks now! Good things come to those who wait my friend~ ;-)
So here is the recipe and a few mouth-watering photos I took of it too. You may notice that a small slice is missing from the photos. That's because I couldn't wait to bite into it, not even for a two-second photo. That's how great it is! Now go on.... Amaze your friends and family with this wonderful dessert!
Triple A Cake (or the absolutely, amazing apple cake!)
(Serves 20, or makes about 20 slices)
Adapted from Lynda's Recipe Box
4 medium apples, chopped into small pieces (any baking apple will do. I used gala and delicious red)
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup of white and 1/2 cup of brown sugar)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup of oil
3/4 cup of applesauce
2 cups of unbleached flour (I used the white wheat kind by King Arthur)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of chopped nuts (I used almonds and I grinded them up into bits)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Peel, core and chop your apple into bite size pieces. Place them in a large bowl. Add in the sugar. In a separate large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nuts. (Note: I chose to grind up the almonds I used because my family isn't fond of them in whole form!) Stir the apple-sugar mix. Then add the applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix all liquid ingredients well. Pour the liquid-apple mixture into the flour-salt dry mixture. Blend well with your spoon until ingredients no longer have any dry spots. The dough will be thick. Spoon or pour out the batter into the 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Mine was ready in 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and begin making the caramel sauce to top the cake.
Here is what the cake looks like when it's finished baking, before the caramel topping is added:
Topping for cake: Caramel sauce
(Makes about 1.5 cups)
Also adapted from Lynda's Recipe Box
1/2 cup light butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream (I used a fat-free cool-whip container that I had on hand)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional but I purposely added this!)
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on the stove. Add in the brown sugar. Cook on medium heat. Stir frequently until the liquid begins to boil. After sugar and butter liquid is boiling, remove from heat. Add in the cream (or cool-whip like I used), vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk until smooth. I let the sauce cool down and thicken for about five minutes before pouring it over the cake. You can do what you like.
Check out how wonderful it looks when the caramel is just oozing out the cake and off the top~! Mmmmmmm......
Lick your lips and enjoy seconds on this one. This cake becomes moister with each passing day. I ate a slice every day for five days and it just seemed to get better and better~! I also froze two pieces and ate them a week later. I simply placed it in the fridge overnight to thaw. This is very good and you'd never know it wasn't fresh from the oven!
Sooo, soooo good! Enjoy this recipe! I'll be sharing a Baked potato pizza recipe and some other fun posts this week! Stay tuned!
