This time of year you’ll probably start to see candy or caramel apples in the grocery stores. It’s a sign that the weather is cooling down (hopefully) and the holidays are near. To celebrate the occasion, I created this Caramel Apple Layer Cake.
Caramel Apple Layer Cake has three layers of apple spice cake seasoned with a blend of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The apple filling is reminiscent of apple pie filling that’s seasoned with apple pie spice.
Next, the cake is covered in a Swiss meringue buttercream made from brown sugar instead of the traditional granulated sugar. Lastly, the cake is dripped with homemade salted caramel drip and topped with a caramel apple.
Apple Layer Cake
- All-purpose flour: is a great choice for cakes that require extra structure like this one!
- Baking powder: is a mixture of baking soda and cornstarch. Baking soda works when it comes into contact with liquid, and again when it comes into contact with heat.
- Ground cinnamon: most ‘cinnamon’ that you’ll find in grocery stores is actually Cassia. Cassia has a stronger flavor than real cinnamon and is ideal for most baked goods.
- Ground ginger: is the most commonly used form of ginger in bake goods. Ground ginger should always be aromatic and fresh and no more than about 2 months old for the best flavor.
- Baking soda: is an alkali and should be used with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, sour cream, molasses or brown sugar. The leavening action happens right after mixing, so you should bake right away.
- Salt: helps with flavor.
- Freshly grated nutmeg: has a warm and woody flavor that makes it great for fall cake recipes. Nutmeg should always be purchased as a whole and not ground. To ground at home, use a grater and grate the nutmeg yourself. This ensures the best flavor.
- Vegetable oil: helps the cake stay moist, provides tenderness and lubrication.
- Granulated sugar: is the most common form of sweetener used in baking and easily incorporates well with other ingredients.
- Brown sugar: has molasses added which gives baked goods a subtle caramel flavor with a soft and chewy texture.
- Eggs: binds, leavens and emulsifies.
- Unsweetened applesauce: adds a delicate flavor and moisture to cakes and other baked goods.
- Diced apples: Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples are all great options to use in this cake.
Apple Filling
During the baking season it’s always a good idea to prepare anything that you can in advance. This apple filling is a great option for that. It comes together easily and can be made up to 7 days in advance. I used Pink Lady apples for this filling but, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp would also work well.
Tips For Achieving Silky Smooth Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Make sure your mixing bowl is super clean. No traces of grease should be present.
- Your egg whites should be free of egg yolk or they will not whip up properly. Tip: Crack egg over a separate bowl to remove the egg white from the yolk and then toss the egg white in your clean mixer bowl. Do this with each egg so you will not contaminate all the egg whites in case you accidentally get egg yolk in one of your egg whites.
- Be sure to combine your brown sugar and egg whites well by whisking together before heating.
- Your butter should be cut into tablespoon sized pieces and should be room temperature before adding into your whipped egg whites.
Salted Caramel Sauce Tips
- Measure out all your ingredients before starting.
- Do not multi-task during this process. Your caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a second!
- Let your caramel cool before adding to the cake. If it’s not cool, it can melt your buttercream or drip off completely.
- Freeze your cake to set the buttercream and the caramel drip once applied. Then, add a caramel apple on top.
What Is A Crumb Coat?
A crumb coat is the first coat of buttercream that is applied to the cake. It’s a thin layer, holding in loose crumbs and helps keep crumbs from getting into your final layer of buttercream. Refrigerate or freeze the cake for 15 to 30 minutes before applying the final coat of buttercream.
Icing The Cake
Because I’m using a decorative cake comb for this cake, I opted to change up my typical super smooth buttercream acrylic disc technique and use a piping bag, to pipe buttercream on to the cake and smooth out that way. This method of icing a cake is what I used when I was a beginner and helped me cover the cake evenly.
Make sure you have a good amount of butter cream over the top and sides of the cake. Smooth out the buttercream a bit before using a cake comb to apply your cake design to the sides of the cake.
Cake Decorating Tools
- Cake turntable
- Nonslip mat
- 8-inch round cake board
- Piping bags
- Round piping tip our coupler
- Ateco piping tip #
- Offset cake spatula
- Cake comb
Caramel Apple Baking Schedule
- Day 1: Make apple filling.
- Day 2: Bake cake layers.
- Day 3: Make caramel drip, buttercream, assemble and serve.
Make Ahead and Cake Storage
- Apple filling can be made up to 7 days in advance, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Cake layers can be made up to 5 days in advance wrapped in plastic wrap, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Caramel drip can be made up to 7 days in advance, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Heat in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.
- Buttercream is best made the day of cake assembly.
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Suggested Recipes
Caramel Apple Layer Cake
Yield:
12
Prep Time:
1 hour
Cook Time:
25 minutes
Additional Time:
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time:
2 hours 55 minutes
Three layers of apple spice cake baked with apples inside and filled with apple filling, covered with brown sugar Swiss meringue buttercream, drizzled with caramel and topped with a caramel apple.
Ingredients
SPECIAL TOOLS
- 3 8-inch round cake pans
- Nonstick baking spray
- Stand mixer
- Candy thermometer
- Nonslip mat
- Cake turntable
- 8-inch round cake board
- Piping bag
- Round piping tip our coupler
- Small offset cake spatula
- Cake comb
APPLE SPICE CAKE
- 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 cups (240 grams) apples, such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or Pink lady, peeled and diced
APPLE FILLING
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 medium-sized Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 1/2 cups water
CARAMEL SAUCE
- 3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
BROWN SUGAR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
- 1 cup egg whites
- 2 cups (14 ounces/200 grams) brown sugar
- 3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
APPLE SPICE CAKE
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the oil and sugars on medium speed for 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down the mixer bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the applesauce in two batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Add the apples and mix on low speed for 30 seconds or until combined.
- Divide the batter between cake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, rotating cake pans halfway through baking.
- Let cakes cool in their pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Then, invert cakes onto the wire cake racks to cool completely.
APPLE FILLING
- In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar and cornstarch.
- Add the apples, butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, apple pie spice and water and cook over medium heat.
- Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from burning. Reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer until thickened and softened, stirring frequently.
- Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes to cool. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
CARAMEL DRIP
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water.
- Heat mixture over high heat occasionally swirling the pan (do not stir), until it turns golden in color, about 8 minutes. The mixture will rapidly boil until slowing down, then darkening in color. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the bubbles subside.
- Slowly whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will sputter and foam up but be sure to keep stirring.
- Add the butter and continue to stir until the butter has melted. Add the salt and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Pour caramel into a heat proof container and let cool for at least 20 minutes. The caramel will thicken as it cools.
BROWN SUGAR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the egg whites and sugar and whisk by hand until combined. Fill a medium saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Place mixer bowl on top, being sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water and attach a candy thermometer.
- Whisking occasionally, heat the egg mixture until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Once the mixture reaches 160 degrees, transfer to a stand mixer and beat the mixture on high speed for 10 minutes or until medium-stiff peaks form. At this point the outside of the mixer bowl should be room temperature. Switch out the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and with the mixer on low speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, and then add the vanilla extract. Once combined, turn up the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is smooth about 5 minutes.
ASSEMBLE
- Place a nonslip mat on top of a cake turntable and place a 8-inch round cake board on top. Center the first cake layer on top of the cake board, making sure there's even spacing from all around the edges.
- Fit a piping bag with a round piping tip or coupler and fill the piping bag with about 11/2 cup buttercream. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge of the cake. Fill the center with 3/4 cup of the filling and spread out in an even layer with a small offset cake spatula. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons cooled caramel sauce over the filling. Do not over fill or the caramel might ooze out. Place the second cake layer on top and gently press to adhere to the bottom cake layer. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge and spread 3/4 cup filling out in an even layer until it reaches the buttercream dam. Drizzle another couple of tablespoons over the filling. Add the third and final cake layer (bottom side up) on top and gently press to adhere.
CRUMB COAT
- Apply a thin layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, creating a crumb coat. Chill the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
CAKE DECORATING
- Fit a large piping bag with Ateco piping tip #???. Fill the piping bag with buttercream and pipe buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Smooth out the buttercream to get the buttercream as even as possible.
- Gently press the cake comb against the bottom cake board and start turning the cake turntable to smooth out the buttercream. Add more buttercream to any gaps and smooth with the cake comb again until you have the cake comb design on the sides of the cake. Smooth out the top of the cake by using an offset cake spatula, pulling excess buttercream towards the center. Place the cake in the freezer or refrigerator for 15 minutes before applying the caramel drip.
- Once the caramel drip has come to the right consistency, using a spoon, drip caramel off the edges of the cake. Pour more caramel on top of the cake and smooth out with an offset cake spatula until it reaches the drips. Chill the cake in the freezer or refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set the caramel before adding a caramel apple. Once the caramel is firm, add a caramel apple on top and serve.
Notes
Apple filling can be made up to 7 days in advance, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Cake layers can be made up to 5 days in advance wrapped in plastic wrap, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Caramel drip can be made up to 7 days in advance, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Heat in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.
Buttercream is best made the day of cake assembly.