Hey there! According to my baking plan, I am supposed to be working on petit fours this week, but take a look outside. The leaves are turning red, brown, and gold, the air is getting crisp, and the squirrels are eating away at my decorative pumpkin. Fall is here and I want to make Fall meals and desserts! I want to make stews, and pies. I want to sip on cinnamon coffee while nibbling on coffee cake in front of a roaring fire. I want my kids to acclimate immediately when we turn our clocks back. I want to enjoy this season because before we know it January 2nd will be here, and the winter time blues will be in full effect. How about this, let’s make some delicious caramel apple coffee cake, and plan a trip to Maui for the months of January, February, and March.
Caramel apple coffee cake is damn good. I made a few changes to Southern Living Magazine‘s original recipe, however. Instead of milk, I used buttermilk, which gave the cake a nice, fluffy texture. Instead of sauteing the apple slices in only butter, I added a fourth cup of whiskey to make it more bad-ass. Finally, I baked the batter in an 8-inch springform pan (the recipe calls for a 9-inch), so it is real tall. I used my own salted caramel sauce for the topping, but a store-bought bottle would work just as well.
Let’s get ‘er done… pour the cake batter in a greased and floured springform pan.
Top the batter with the sauteed apple slices.
Cover the apple slices with caramel sauce.
Sprinkle the brown sugar/pecan streusel over the caramel sauce layer.
Finally, bake the coffee cake in a 350 degree F. oven for 45 minutes, and then cover the cake with aluminum foil. Bake for another 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
Serve the cake once it has completely cooled. Drizzle a little more caramel sauce atop each individual slice and enjoy!
- 2 TBS (28 g) Butter
- 1/4 cup Whiskey
- 3 cups (330 g) peeled and sliced Granny Smith Apples
- Streusel Topping
- 1 cup Caramel Sauce
- 1/2 cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 cups (250 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 2/3 cup Buttermilk
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (187 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (104 g) Pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup (113 g or 1 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (105 g) Light Brown Sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (50 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan with butter.
- Over medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet pan. Add the apple slices and whiskey, and saute until softened (about 5 minutes). Remove the apples from the heat, and set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the steusel topping by stirring all of the streusel ingredients together until blended. Set aside for 30 minutes until it becomes firm enough to crumble.
- Back to the cake, beat the butter at medium speed using an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly add the sugar until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Be sure to begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat at a low speed until blended. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Top with the apple slices. Drizzle with 1/2 cup of caramel sauce. Finally, sprinkle with the streusel topping.
- Bake for 45 minutes, and then cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until center has set. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 and 1/2 hours). Slice up and then drizzle each slice with the remaining caramel sauce. Enjoy!
- Electric mixer
- 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan
- Aluminum foil
- Skillet
