Amish Apple Cake With Hot Caramel Sauce

miss gracie's Note:

This is one of our favorite cake recipes, originally published in Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams. I modified the caramel sauce a bit and increased the amount of the sauce since it is so wonderful! The cake keeps well and can be reheated briefly in the microwave. Extra caramel sauce is divine over ice cream!

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

Cake

• ½ cup pecans , chopped finely
• 2 ½ cups cooking apples , chopped medium coarse (such as Granny Smith or Northern Sprys)
• ½ cup butter , softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 cup flour

Caramel Sauce

• ¾ cup butter
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• ¾ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter.
3. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
4. Add egg and beat until blended, then mix in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
5. Add the flour and stir just until blended.
6. Stir in the apples and nuts.
7. Pour into an oiled 9 inch round cake pan (I use a glass pie plate) and bake for 30 minutes or until the top springs back when touched lightly in the center.
8. Prepare sauce.
9. In a saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar, and salt.
10. Bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk, then remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and the cream.
11. (The sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated over hot water.) Serve the cake warm with the hot caramel sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.
12. The cake gets better as it ages, keeps for a week in the refrigerator, and also freezes well.
13. It can be reheated in the microwave.

Reviews

[Minxkat1]

Wow, I can't believe no-one has reviewed this yet, it was absolutely incredible! I was a bit concerned while making it, as the dough resembled my cookie dough, more than cake dough, but what resulted was a very dense, deliciously spiced cake. I substituted walnuts for the pecans, because that was what I had on hand, and I used whipping cream for the 'heavy cream'. I'm pretty sure they are one and the same, but we don't have 'heavy cream' here, and at 35% butterfat whipping cream was the heaviest I could find. The caramel sauce was delicious, and the combination of the rich cake, creamy sweet warm caramel and cold, fresh whipped cream was heaven. An excellent fall dessert the entire family loved - I plan to keep it in the 'make often' section of my recipe file box.