Rachael Ray Caramel Apple Layer Cake

Submitted by Jollymae

"A yummy recipe I found in From Every Day with Rachael Ray November 2007"

 

• Ready In: 31mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 1 Cake
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 532.32 ml flour
• 354.88 ml granulated sugar, plus
• 78.78 ml granulated sugar
• 14.79 ml baking powder
• 4.92 ml salt
• 473.18 ml unsalted butter, softened
• 44.37 ml unsalted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs, plus
• 2 large egg yolks
• 118.29 ml heavy cream, plus
• 44.37 ml heavy cream
• 118.29 ml unsweetened applesauce
• 9.85 ml pure vanilla extract
• 3 crisp apples, such as gala, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise (about 1 pound)
• 354.88 ml confectioners' sugar
• 236.59 ml store-bought caramel sauce

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Using an electric mixer, combine the flour, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, the baking powder and salt. Mix in 2 sticks butter at low speed until the mixture is crumbly.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 cup cream, applesauce and vanilla. Mix into the flour-butter mixture at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake to release the layers, invert onto the rack and let cool completely.
4. In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Add the apple slices and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar and cook, stirring often, until the apples are tender and the juice is syrupy, about 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
5. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 2 sticks butter and the confectioners' sugar until light and creamy. With the mixer on low, slowly mix in the caramel sauce.
6. Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate; spread the apple filling evenly on top, then cover with the remaining cake layer. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, cover the top and sides of the cake with the caramel frosting, swirling the top to make a decorative pattern.

Reviews

[Muffin Goddess]

Pretty cake, nice flavor combination, what's not to love? I was a little bit leery of the method used to make the cake part, because it's backwards from any other scratch cake I've ever made, but it turned out just fine. The batter seemed a bit thick when I was panning it out, but it baked up perfectly (no sticking, no crowning, nice color). I think I'll use cake flour next time instead of the all-purpose, but that's just due to personal preference. I used Granny Smith's for the apples (what I had in the fridge), and I used some homemade cajeta for the caramel sauce in the frosting. I recommend using the thicker caramel ice cream topping, rather than the thinner type of caramel sauce, because the thinner sauce makes the frosting kind of drippy. I needed to refrigerate my frosted cake to harden the frosting, then I scraped up the frosting that dripped off the cake and "re-frosted" it, which turned out surprisingly well. Thanks for posting! Made for PAC Fall 08

 

[Elisa72]

VERY good cake! Loved the caramel frosting! Easy to make.

 

[rosslare]

Crispy apple and sweet caramel flavours. Great! All turned out well. I moistened the cakes with some apple juice before filling, just because we like moist cakes.