Caramel Apple Cake

Here's an example of a baking failure on my part. I made this cake as part of my brother-in-law's birthday dinner. It was a bit on the labor-intensive side and, as it turned out, not worth the trouble.

Starting out, I didn't end up having a pan that was big enough for the ingredients, so while it was baking, it totally overflowed. Thankfully, I had had the presence of mind to put a baking sheet underneath the cake pan so that it didn't mess up the bottom of my brand-new oven. It was interesting trying to get the cake pan off the baking sheet though. We had lots of tasty crunchier portions to snack on before dinner (you can see them on the white plate in the picture below).

The portion of the recipe that calls for putting the cake pan in a water bath to loosen the caramel enough to get the cake out of the pan was a bit of a disaster. I couldn't very easily get the very hot pan out of the water bath, so some of the edges of the cake got a little wet. Then came the best part... When I went to turn out the cake, a whole chunk of it fell apart altogether, oozing apples and caramel all over my counter (I cleaned that part up before taking the picture since I had to finish dinner). I think I just left the pan in the water bath too long and liquified the caramel too much.

After all that, the cake didn't even taste that great. While the cake itself of okay, the caramel you're supposed to pour on top of the finished cake was very similar to the caramel you get on a caramel apple (hence the recipe's name), so it was extremely sticky. Which really isn't my thing. So I won't be doing this again. There are plenty of other tastier cakes that I've made and want to try.

So it wasn't worth the trouble and made a giant mess. Cake fail. But I'll add the recipe anyway just in case any of you want to give it a shot.

Caramel Apple Cake
Courtesy of Food Network Magazine



For the Caramel and Apples:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3 cups sugar
5 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
4 large Golden Delicious apples (1 3/4 to 2 pounds)

For the Batter:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Butter a 9-by-3-inch round cake pan. Make the caramel: Cook the sugar and corn syrup in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is dark amber, 7 to 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add the cream and 4 tablespoons butter (it will splatter) and cook, stirring, until combined, about 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and let sit 1 minute. Pour 1 1/2 cups caramel into a glass measuring cup and set aside. Pour the remaining caramel into the prepared pan and set aside until set, about 30 minutes.

Cut 3 apples into quarters and cut out the cores with a paring knife. Arrange the pieces skin-side down in the pan (overlapping them slightly) to form a ring about 1/2 inch from the edge. Save any pieces that do not fit for later.

Halve the remaining whole apple crosswise. Scoop out the seeds with a melon baller or measuring spoon, leaving the stem on the top half. Chop the bottom and any of the leftover quartered apples into pieces; set aside.

Arrange the apple top, stem-side down, in the center of the pan. If the quartered apples shift, just push them back into place.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make the batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, orange juice and vanilla.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Slip them into the mixer bowl, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 5 more minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula.

With the mixer on low speed, add half of the sour cream mixture, then half of the flour mixture. Repeat. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula; finish combining the batter by hand.

Spread the batter over the apples in the pan. Top with the chopped apple. Bake on the middle oven rack until the cake is brown on top and springs back when pressed, 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes (don't worry if the top is dark). Cool in the pan on a rack.

Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a skillet wide enough to hold the cake pan. Carefully run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan several times, then rest the pan in the water to soften the caramel, about 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the water and dry.

Invert a plate on top of the cake, then flip over the cake and plate. Using pot holders or a towel, wriggle the pan off. Soften the reserved 1 1/2 cups caramel in the microwave, about 2 minutes. Drizzle the cake with some of the caramel. Slice and serve with the rest.