Serve this lovely cake at your next Sunday supper, and it’s guaranteed to steal the show.
Apple Butter Caramel Cake
Makes 1 (8-inch) cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup apple butter
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup whole buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
- ⅓ cup hot caramel sauce*, room temperature
- Garnish: chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with baking spray with flour; line bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together apple butter, oil, eggs, and buttermilk until well blended. Add apple butter mixture to flour mixture, whisking until just combined. Fold in pecans. Divide batter into prepared pans.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Spread 2 cups Cream Cheese Frosting on one layer. Drizzle caramel-over frosting. Freeze until caramel is set, about 10 minutes. Top with remaining cake layer; gently spread 2½ cups Cream Cheese Frosting on top.
- Garnish with pecans, if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 (2-pound) bag confectioners’ sugar (about 7½ cups)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add butter and beat at medium speed until smooth and well combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. With the mixer at low speed, add confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time, until completely incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Notes
*We used Smucker’s Hot Caramel Topping.
