Pinterest Review: Carmel Apple Cake

Oh, how I love me some caramel apples!  Could you tell, what with two caramel apple cake posts in a row?  Oh, the yummy caramel (which I do think is better than chocolate) with the apple...  And I'm learning the amazingness of putting that caramel on tart apples...  this is a very tasty time of year for me...

So when I was looking for a recipe to make for Fellowship, I went straight to my Apple board on Pinterest, where there are many caramel apple inspired recipes.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Apple Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

Verdict?  Yum!  But holy crap was it SWEET!  Yikes!  I needed to drink water after eating this it was so sweet!  Rhyanne thought it would be better without the glaze, and I think she may be right.  If you don't need to go into a sugar coma, you might want to try cutting the glaze recipe in half.  There would still be plenty.  Also, I didn't feel like I could really taste the apples so much, so make sure you use a really flavorful apple.  Looking back, I know I should have bought Granny Smith instead of Fuji apples.  And, if I were to make this again, I would put cinnamon directly onto the apples before adding them to the mix.  I think that would bring them out better.

Also, without the glaze it was a bit more bread-like.  I might make it again without the glaze and serve more like a bread.  Or I could just see if Mom would make us some zucchini bread...  that would be awesome!