Yesterday we had a "Just Because Cake Party" with some of our friends. The star of the party was a cake I invented and it was a 4-Layer Apple Crisp Caramel Cake. Everyone said it was wonderful. Though I didn't come up with the recipe for each individual piece of the cake I did come up with the combination so this is my recipe.
4-Layer Apple Crisp Caramel Cake
Serves approximately 18-20
people
Skill level - Moderate Baking Skills Needed
Kitchen Mess Meter - HIGH
Yellow Cake – Makes 2 layers
To make a 4 layer cake make
this 2 times.
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups white sugar
8 egg yolks
¾ cup milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
extract
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven
to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 – 8 inch round pans. Sift
together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar
until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the
vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until
incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake in the preheated
oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped. Cool
15 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.
4. Allow the layers to cool complete before
using.
Caramel Filling – Buy original caramel
topping in the jar (usually found near the ice cream toppings).
Apple Filling
Ingredients
6 medium apples –
peeled, cored and sliced
½ cup white
sugar
3 Tablespoons
all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon
ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon
ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon
ground cloves
½ cup whole
milk
1 Tablespoon
butter
1 Tablespoon
sugar
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
(175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish, or coat with non-stick
cooking spray.
2.Place apples in a large bowl. In
a small bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir
spice mixture into apples until evenly distributed. Spoon into prepared dish.
Pour milk evenly over apple mixture, place small slices of the butter on top of
apples and sprinkle the apple mixture with the sugar.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to
60 minutes, or until soft and bubbly. Allow the mixture to cool completely
before using.
Caramel Frosting – This will just cover the tops and sides of a 4-layer
cake. You might want to make 2x as much
if you want to decorate with it.
This is the last thing you
make as you want to use it the same day you assemble the cake.
Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons milk
3 cups sifted confectioners
sugar
Directions
1.
Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in the brown sugar and the salt.
Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat
and add the milk, stirring all the while.
2.
Return to heat and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and allow to cool
until lukewarm (approximately 20 to 25 minutes). Stir in the confectioners'
sugar and beat until smooth and cool enough to spread. You might need to add a
few drops of milk if frosting gets too stiff.
Crumb Topping
Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 35o degrees
F
In a large bowl, combine brown
sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly.
Place in a greased 8 inch pan
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden
brown (you will have left over)
Cake Assembly
1.Cut all layers to have a flat top
2.Place the first layer right side
up on a cake board
3.Pipe the frosting around the
upper edge to keep the apples from mixing with the frosting on the outside
4.Place a thin layer of apples on
the layer
5.Place the second layer of the
first face down
6.Use a fork to poke hole in the
layer to allow the caramel frosting to go into the cake
7.Pipe the frosting around the
upper edge
8.Pour the warm caramel over the
cake making a thin layer
9.Place the third layer upside down
over the second layer
10.Repeat steps 3 and 4
11.Place the last layer on the cake
12.Frost the cake
13.Crush up the crumb topping into
small chunks
14.Place Crushed topping on the
cake
15.Drizzle the topping with
Caramel
Serve with a scoop of ice cream.
