Indulge yourself with this recipe for Caramel Apple Cake – moist, delicious cake packed with apples & covered in an indulgent caramel glaze.
I have to say that my heart beats a little faster when I talk about this cake. The tender, spiced apple cake and the thick, caramel glaze that marries the two together – What could be better?
Cakes that include the addition of fruit tend to be wonderfully moist and delicious, and this recipe definitely fits the bill! Combining apples and caramel not only creates an amazing flavor, but this cake comes out so incredibly tender and moist.
Why This Recipe Works
- The cake is full of spiced apple flavor which pairs perfectly with the caramel glaze.
- Using fresh apples instead of apple sauce adds a natural apple flavor that can’t be beat.
- The rich, buttery caramel glaze has just enough sweetness and doesn’t overpower flavors in the cake.
Easy Apple Cake
The best part about this recipe is how easy it is to prepare. The batter only needs a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. No special equipment is required!
The caramel glaze doesn’t need a candy thermometer or special skills you just throw everything together in the pot and cook until it melts together and thickens. It’s that simple!
What apples for apple cake
Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples are good choices as they tend to hold up best under heat. Use granny smith if you like a tart flavor and Golden delicious for a sweeter choice.
Many recipes use artificial flavors or jarred applesauce for flavoring cakes. This apple cake recipe is made with fresh apples for the perfect flavor!
The Caramel Glaze
This glaze is insanely delicious. I’ve uses it for my Brown Sugar Cake and my Sticky Toffee Ginger Cakes. It’s so good I’m sure I’ll be making it in many more recipes to come.
The key to the glaze is allowing it to cool enough to thicken, but still, be pouring consistency. See the tips section at the bottom of the post for more details.
How To Make Caramel Apple Cake:
In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Add the grated apples and melted butter
Mix to combine. You want a thick batter that’s easily mixed. If the mixture is too thick, you can loosen it with some milk.
Add the batter evenly to a well-greased pan.
Bake and allow to cool on a baking rack while you prepare the glaze.
To get the beautiful pattern, I used a Nordic Ware Autumn Wreath Bundt Pan. If you’re in the US, you can get one from here on Amazon (As an Amazon Associate, a small commission is made from qualifying purchases). If you’re in the UK, click here.
To prepare the caramel glaze, combine the butter, brown sugar, and milk in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer to thicken for 1-2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside to cool.
Place a piece of baking paper under the cooling rack your cake is on. Pour the glaze over the cake.
You can use the glaze that falls off the cake by moving the cake to a new piece of baking paper and pouring the excess from the first piece onto the cake.
Tips For Best Result
- After shredding the apples, coat them with a bit of citrus juice to keep them from turning brown before using. Lemon works best.
- Don’t have citrus juice? No problem. The batter is quite dark so brown apples won’t matter and it doesn’t affect the taste.
- If you like more significant chunks of apple, feel free to chop them instead of shredding.
- When making Bundt cakes, grease the pan generously to make it easier to remove the cake from the pan.
- Because this cake is so moist, you may have trouble with it sticking to the pan. I find the best solution is to use Wilton’s Cake Release – it will slide out of the pan perfectly.
- The longer The Caramel Glaze cools, the thicker it becomes. If you accidentally allow it to cool too much, heat it again (until fluid) and start over.
- When glazing the cake, place the cake on a cooling rack with baking paper under it to catch any glaze that drips from the cake. You can scrape it off the paper and glaze again.
Variations
- For a salted caramel glaze– Add a teaspoon of salt to the glaze.
- For a Caramel Pear Cake – swap out the apples for pears.
Other Apple Recipes You’ll Love
FAQs
Yes, it freezes well. Just wrap the unglazed, cooled cake in a layer of plactic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
Stored covered at room temperature apple cake will keep for 3-5 days.
A 12-cup capacity Bundt Cake (that measures about 10 inches in diameter) makes 12-16 slices.
Did you make this?
Stay Updated
Receive new recipes & dinner ideas straight to your inbox!
Let’s Make Caramel Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2½ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 8 oz butter (1 cup/2 sticks/16 Tbsp), melted
- 4 large eggs
- 5 medium apples grated – keep from turning brown with a little lemon juice squeezed on the slices.
- ¼ cup milk as needed
For the glaze:
- 6 oz butter 1½ sticks/¾ cup/12 Tbsp
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C and Grease a 10-cup capacity Bundt Cake
- In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave, and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, baking soda, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add the cooled butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. The batter should be easily stirred. If too thick, mix in the milk.
- Fold in the apples and spoon the batter into the bundt pan.
- Bake 50-60 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- After the cake cools in the pan for 10 minutes, invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the glaze:
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar to the melted butter and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute (be sure the butter and sugar are completely combined and you can't see any separated butter in the mixture). Bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Add the milk and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool. The longer it cools, the thicker it becomes. When it's at your desired consistency, drizzle over the cooled cake and serve.
Tips + Notes
- After shredding the apples, coat them with a bit of citrus juice to keep them from turning brown before using. Lemon works best.
- Don’t have citrus juice? No problem. The batter is quite dark so brown apples won’t matter and it doesn’t affect the taste.
- The longer The Caramel Glaze cools, the thicker it becomes. If you accidentally allow it to cool too much, heat it up again (until fluid) and start over.
- When glazing the cake, place the cake on a cooling rack with baking paper under it to catch any glaze that drips from the cake. You can scrape it off the paper and glaze again.
Variations
- For a salted caramel glaze– Add a teaspoon of salt to the glaze.
- For a Caramel Pear Cake – swap out the apples for pears.
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in 2018 but was updated with new photos and tips in 2020.
Joy Ann says
Excellent recipe! Big hit at work. The topping is amazing! Thank you!
Erren Hart says
I’m so delighted to hear you liked it! 🙂
Vallerie says
BEST cake ever!!
Erren Hart says
Thanks so much for leaving such lovely feedback!
Pat says
My daughters favorite cake! Great recipe!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you 🙂
Janet says
Looks so delicious but way too big for 2 of us. Could I cut the recipe in half and bake in a 9 inch pan? Thank you.
Erren Hart says
I haven’t done it, but I think that would work just fine.
Susi says
Just a quick question, can I use heavy cream instead of milk for the glaze? The cake is in the oven and I ran out of milk, we live quite always from town.
Erren Hart says
Hi Susi, the cream would work just fine. I just made the cake again yesterday. Forgot how good it was! Enjoy!
Tina says
Confused about step 7 for the cake it says mix together the apple and one cup of sugar?
Erren Hart says
To be perfectly honest, I’m confused by it too! So much that I deleted it all together from the recipe. I don’t know if I uploaded the wrong version of the recipe or what, but I looked it over and everything else is correct. All I can do is apologize and thank you for pointing out the error!
Susi says
I just got done making this cake for the second time, this is the only caramel apple cake I will EVER make. It’s amazing, very moist and has the perfect amount of spices for my taste. Thanks so much!!!
Erren's Kitchen says
What awesome feedback Susi thank you and I am so glad you enjoyed it!