Apple Cake with Bourbon Salted Caramel Frosting

Yum

This cake is the perfect Fall treat that’s perfectly spiced and pretty low maintenance to make (the apples cook IN the cake). The bourbon salted buttercream frosting is slightly higher maintenance, but it’s perfect balance of sweet and salty makes it sooo worth it.

Although this cake is two layers, it’s six inch diameter makes it perfect for your smaller fall and holiday gatherings.

Why you should make Apple Cake with Bourbon Salted Caramel Frosting

Apple picking is always fun until you realize you don’t know what to do with 60 apples. They say “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” but 1.) Science says that’s not true and 2.) no one actually eats an apple every day. So I say screw it, and make them into cake. Here’s why you should turn your apples into this cake:

• It’s got the perfect balance of sweet and salty: think spiked mulled cider, but cake and frosting, plus a pinch of salt.
• It’s the perfect size: this year, no one is (or should be—looking at you, Florida) having any large gatherings, so instead of wasting or filling your freezer with extra cake, you can easily serve a small group and have a (manageable amount of) leftovers for yourself!
• You don’t need to be a baking master to master this cake: evidence—I made this cake a multitude of times and I would not call myself an expert baker.
• Apples: so, like, it’s the same as having fruit salad (disclaimer: don’t tell your doctor I said that).

Now, with all that said, you know I’m always real with you: this is a great weekend or day-off project. While this recipe is easy, it’s also got more steps than the average recipe on this blog. And with that said, there are ways to further simplify this recipe based on how much time you have and craps you give.

You can also make this recipe in parts: eg. making the cake one day, making the sauce and frosting another day. BUT I promise, it is worth it…and when you’re done, you’ll have a whole 2-layer cake!

Okay so what ingredients do I need to make Apple Cake with Bourbon Salted Caramel Frosting?

So there are three main parts to this recipe: the cake itself, the salted bourbon caramel sauce and the frosting. This recipe shows you how to make them all from scratch, but, if you’re looking to cut down on time (and ingredients), you can always buy pre-made salted caramel sauce, and add some bourbon—no judgement here!

For The Cake

• Brown sugar
• Butter
• Bourbon (or plain) vanilla extract 
• Eggs
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt 
• Apples
• Lemon juice 
• Lemon zest
• Pumpkin pie spice (or ¾ teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg)

For the Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce

• Unsalted Butter
• White sugar
• Heavy cream
• Bourbon Vanilla extract (plain works too)
• Fine Sea Salt
• Bourbon

For the Bourbon Salted Caramel Frosting

• Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce (from the recipe above)
• Unsalted Butter
• Confectioners Sugar

For Optional toppings

• Fresh apple
• Cinnamon Sticks

How do I make Apple Cake with Bourbon Salted Caramel Frosting?

Okay, let’s do this…

1. Make Cake:

• Preheat oven to 375 and grease two round 6 inch baking pans.
• Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, add brown sugar and melted butter to a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until creamed. Beat in vanilla and eggs one by one. Don’t add the next egg until the first one is fully incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, add all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold apples, lemon juice and lemon zest into the batter. And place into oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until your cake is golden (you can test this by inserting a thin knife into the center. If it comes out clean, you’re good!)

2. Make Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce

• Melt butter in a small nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in sugar until melted (adjust heat as needed). 
• Slowly whisk in heavy cream (it will bubble so pour in slowly and carefully) and whisk until fully combined. Add bourbon and salt, whisk again to combine.
• Allow to chill for about 10-20 minutes until sauce is no longer hot.

  If you’re using pre-made salted caramel sauce (You can find some at Trader Joe’s and gourmet grocery stores), you can heat about a cup full of sauce into a sauce pan on low heat, and whisk in about ¼ cup of bourbon, and simmer on low heat for about 5-10 minutes, or until consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

3. Make Frosting

• In a large mixing bowl, combine salted caramel sauce and butter using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together on medium to high speed. On low speed, add half the powdered sugar at a time, and whip until frosting comes together. 

4. Frost Cake

Note: this part works best when cake is cold vs. room temperature, so if you don’t want to make the entire cake at once, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze each layer. If you are doing this, be sure to cut your cake layers level first.

• After cake is fully cooled, use a serrated knife to cut off the top of each cake layer to make them level. Put the top side down on the first layer. Frost the top of the cake.
• Place the top layer of cake on top of the layer of frosting, top side down.
• After cake is fully cooled, cut off tops to make level. Putting top side down of the first layer. Continue to frost remainder of the cake.

5. Drip Bourbon Salted Caramel

• Pour remaining salted caramel sauce (you should have about ½ a cup) on the top of the cake. Use a butter knife to smooth caramel sauce across the cake, and gently coax small drips of sauce off the side of the cake and allow to continue to run down sides of the cake naturally. Repeat around entire circumference of the cake then immediately place cake into the freezer to allow caramel to harden.

6. Decorate

• Thinly slice ¼ of an apple. Immediately dry apple pieces between 2 paper towels and press gently to absorb as much water as possible. Fan apple pieces out on half of the cake. Lean 2 cinnamon sticks on the top of the apples and serve. 

The cake stays good in the fridge for 2-3 days. Freezer for about a week (and it keeps the apples from browning).

How to frost A cake like a pro

This project was especially helpful to hone by frosting skills. You don’t have to get too serious with frosting your cake if you don’t want to, but I needed to make it look good for y’all, so here are some helpful tips I learned to frost cake like a pro (psst: the secret is temperature manipulation).

• Freeze your cake layers before frosting: This keeps the cake more solid and less likely to crumble while spreading the frosting.
• Apply a thin first layer: Applying a thin first layer (aka a “crumb coat” to cake frosting professionals) helps disguise any imperfections in the cake, and provides a smooth surface to apply your second layer of frosting.
• Chill your cake between applying layers of frosting: Just like chilling the cake, this will help keep the previous layer of frosting in place, which will help provide a smooth foundation for your next layer.
• Use a hot off-set spatula (or butter knife) to smooth out frosting: Once frosting has set, heat an offset spatula under hot running water, wipe dry and use it to gently smooth the frosting.

What types of apples can I use in this recipe?

Best apples to use in this cake are any apples you would use in an apple pie, such as:

• Gala apples
• Macintosh apples
• Pink Lady apples
• Fuji apples

How can I make my own pumpkin pie spice?

If you don’t have ready-made pumpkin spice, it’s incredibly easy to make. And if you don’t have all of the spices below, the most important spices to include are cinnamon (¾ teaspoon) and nutmeg (¼ teaspoon).

• ¾ teaspoon Cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon Powdered Ginger
• ⅛ teaspoon Ground Clove

What if I want to make this cake for kids?

Omitting the bourbon from this recipe is incredibly easy. While you’re making the salted bourbon caramel, swap our the caramel for about an equal amount of milk to help the caramel keep the same consistency. When you’re making the cake, just use plan vanilla extract, instead of bourbon vanilla extract.