Apple Cake With Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Autumn is a great time to experiment with apple recipes since apples are in season.  In an effort to bake more goodies with apples, I decided to take a stab at an apple cake.  Personally, I did not like the apple tube pan cake that was all the rage two years ago.  The cake did not taste that great to me, especially after eating far superior apple goodies when I was in Europe.

With the impending hurricane, I decided to use the electrical equipment in the kitchen as much as possible, and chose to make an apple cake with cream cheese frosting (my husband loves cream cheese on anything).

The result was an impressive cake. My husband called it "crack."  The flavors in the cake itself form well after a day in the refrigerator.  It is important to only use cooking apples, since other types tend to turn into mush.  I went on the safe side and bought easily available Granny Smiths.

Apple Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cake:
6 peeled cooking apples (half grated by cheese grater, and half chopped finely)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda (fresh is always better)
1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting and Garnish:
5 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
6 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping or ready made dulce de leche, plus more for garnish
4 cups powdered sugar
Extra pecans for garnish

Method:

Step 1: Mix apples and sugar together in bowl, preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease 2 8-9 inch baking pans (place parchment paper on bottom of each pan if you're worried about flipping the cake over)
Step 2: Stir in eggs, oil and vanilla to apple mixture
Step 3: Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir to combine
Step 4: Fold in pecans, and pour half of mixture in each baking pan
Step 5: Bake for 35 minutes, and cool for ten minutes
Step 6: Make frosting by beating butter and cream cheese with electric beater until fluffy
Step 7: Add in caramel topping, and slowly add in powdered sugar until a frosting consistency is created
Step 8: Place one layer of cake on serving dish, and place scraps of parchment paper under cake so that it sticks out of cake
Step 9: Frost top of first layer, then place second layer on top
Step 10: Frost tops and sides of cake, and garnish with caramel and pecans, then remove parchment pieces and refrigerate until ready to serve