Vanilla Apple Cake
An easy classic and delicious Vanilla Apple Cake made from scratch with fresh apples, topped with caramel sauce and pecans.
This month's Sweet & Simple Bakes event, created by Rosie, of Rosie Bakes a 'Peace" of Cake and Maria, of The Goddess's Kitchen, called us to make a Vanilla Apple cake.
The recipe was simple, straightforward, a few ingredients and this time I followed the recipe as much as I could.
To start with I do not have a 20 cm springform tin, so I used my 26 cm tin which made a cake less high than it should be.
I did not have demerara sugar so I used crystal sugar instead and Starking delicious apples instead of Bramley.
The only change I made to the recipe was instead of adding all the apples on top, I used 1 ½ apples on the base of the tin, on which I sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon, I emptied the batter on top and I put the remaining apples on top with some sugar and cinnamon.
My batter was so shallow that I could not poke the apples half way in, as instructed by Maria.
However the cake rose and covered the apples perfectly.
When it cooled, I turned it into a cake server, upside down.
The taste was absolutely amazing. My children loved it and could eat it all at once if I did not prevent them from eating it all.
Caramel Sauce
The idea of adding a caramel sauce on top with some pecans was mine, as I love it on top of apple pies or other desserts.
Instead of serving the apple cake dry, I prepared the caramel sauce which I poured on top of each serving with some crushed pecans on top.
The caramel sauce is a special touch, especially when serving guests.
Blog problems
On another note, this morning I had an e-mail from a friend saying that she could not open my site and when I checked it she was right. There was no site!
Although until late in the evening the site was running perfectly, I do not know why it collapsed.
I contacted my hosting company who have found out the problem and after a couple of hours we managed to restore the problem.
The whole problem nearly gave me a stroke and made me think that I would have lost at least one month's hard work.
I tried to find out how I can back up my data and although it seems quite complicated, I shall devote as long time as necessary to learn how to do this.
Does any one of you know an easy way to do this?
After writing the post I found out that all my links are also not working and now I need to resolve that problem as well.
Vanilla Apple Cake
An easy classic and delicious Vanilla Apple Cake made from scratch with fresh apples, topped with caramel sauce and pecans.
Ingredients
- 250g / 9oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 250g / 9oz golden caster sugar (or normal caster sugar)
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 250g / 9oz self-raising flour
- 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds removed and reserved (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 3 small Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges (or any other type of cooking apple, if not apple of your choice)
- 2 tablespoon Demerara sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the caramel sauce
- ½ cup of sugar
- 2 spoonfuls of lemon juice
- a few spoonfuls of water until the sugar gets wet
- 1 teaspoon butter or margarine
- 5 - 6 spoonfuls of light cream or milk
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter a 20cm/8inch spring form
tin, then line the base with baking paper. - Beat the caster sugar and butter together until the mixture turns pale
and fluffy. - Add the eggs, flour and vanilla seeds, then beat together quickly to
make a smooth batter. - Tip into the prepared tin, then lay the apple wedges on top, poking them halfway into the mix. Don't worry if the apples appear crowded - they'll shrink as they cook.
Sprinkle with the Demerara and cinnamon, then bake for 1 hour 5 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the sponge is risen and golden. - Leave to cool for a few minutes, then release the tin and cool the cake
completely on a wire rack.
Preparing the sauce
- In a non stick frying pan add sugar and wet it with water, add lemon
juice and stir until it turns brown. - Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and the cream.
- Mix for a few seconds and serve on top of the cake.
- Serve the cold sauce in a sauce boat with apple cake or other suitable
desserts. Or, spoon a little sauce over each serving of the dessert before
presenting it at the table.
Notes
I did not measure how much cream I added but I would say around 5 - 6
spoonfuls and if you add less or more I don't see any problem, so long as it retains it's dark colour.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 435Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 14gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 129mgSodium 336mgCarbohydrates 53gFiber 2gSugar 33gProtein 5g
Apple recipes
Do you have apples and don't know what to do with them? Check out some more recipes with apples.
Apple Meringue Galette
Apple Meringue Galette is a delicious autumnal dessert which it's so quick and easy to prepare, you'll want to make this again and again!
Easy Homemade Apple Turnvers
There's nothing like homemade apple turnovers with homemade apple sauce. They are delicious and yet so easy, that any one can make these homemade turnovers.
Easy Homemade Applesauce
There is nothing better than homemade applesauce which is delicious and easy to make which you can enjoy as a simple snack, in desserts or in savory dishes.
Glyko Milo (Greek Apple Preserve)
Glyko Milo is a Greek fruit preserve made with a Greek variety of apples called Firiki (Pijrus Malus ή Malus Communis), which are very aromatic.Â
Milopita Bougatsa (Greek Apple Pie with Phyllo)
Milopita Bougatsa is a Greek Apple Pie, made with cooked apples and spices, which are then thickened with a semolina pudding and enclosed in phyllo.
Apple and Banana Olive Oil Doggie Birthday Cake
A few days ago it was Dias' (aka Zeus), second birthday and I made him this delicious and easy to make Apple and Banana Olive Oil Cake. All the ingredients used are pure and fresh and it makes a great healthy cake, which can also be eaten by humans. Â
Peanut Butter Greek Yoghurt Carrot and Apple Doggy Cake
If you're looking for a cake to make for your pooch, try this Peanut Butter Greek Yoghurt Carrot and Apple cake. It is topped with a peanut butter and Greek yoghurt glaze which makes a delicious and healthy cake to celebrate your dog's big day!
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
oh, and I DO toast the pecans, the flavour is worth it!:)
A delicious looking cake! Very flavorful tasting!
Cheers,
Rosa
hi Ivy
Love the way you used the apple slices in the cake.
What more with pecan and caramel topping ... I think you cake is to just yummylicious 🙂
Ivy, doesn't this cake look amazing? I really wanted to participate but life had other ideas... I'm going to give it a go when I have a little more time for niceties for sure. Thank you for your kind words 🙂
Delicious Ivy - I love the idea of the caramel syrup on top to complement the apples.
THe cake looks amazing ... we went apple picking with the kids a week ago and I have 25 pounds of apples to work with!! I've laready made apple pies and apple crisp (which I'm planning to post about) and I was looking for a good apple upside down cake -- I just found it!
Pineapple upside down cake and peach upside down cakes are also really good ...
Ivy your Vanilla Apple Cake looks so delicious and I love the caramel syrup topping you've added to this wonderful recipe!
Thanks for taking part in this months bake and hope you will join us again.
Maria
x
Ivy, that cake looks so good!!!
Ciao ! I love your variation, I love the tarte tatin-like idea and the syrup too ! I always use butter because it's good and margarina (?)is not healty better a little less but good !
Ivy your cake really is stunning and a most wonderful bake - well done 😀
Many thanks to you for partaking in this month's bake and I hope you will join us again 🙂
Hugs Rosie x
Great-looking cake. I like the addition of the caramel syrup. I'm a bit unclear about the margarine/butter debate. I, too, always thought margarine was better for you, but have been hearing more recently that it's not. It sounds like there are pros and cons for each. More recently, I've been using more butter in my baking. Pixen's comment is helpful.
Thanks everybody for your lovely comments.
Thanks also for telling me the pros and cons of butter vs margarine. I have not yet made up my mind what to be using. Although I use an olive oil based margarine still butter is very tasteful and so long as it's not every day I can enjoy some once in a while.
Jee, your cake looks scrumptous and inviting. Am drolling all over your recipe and cant make up my mind yet to move on 😉
It looks wonderful! I really like it with caramel and nuts.
Your cake looks great and I love the caramel syrup and pecans on top. A nice little variation you've added :]