I am so blessed to celebrate my daughter Gratia's first birthday by baking her a cake with her two favourite flavours. Salted Caramel & Apple Butter. I was so surprised the first time I let her try one of my vanilla cupcakes and how much she loved it. Her favourite is when I added cinnamon to my vanilla batter, so I combined all my little sweetheart's desires into her own cake that would bring her the most joy.
The flavours in this cake call for a festive late fall & winter recipe. You can make this cake for Thanksgiving, or any of your Christmas gatherings would most certainly fit the festive occasion just beautifully.
This cake is actually quite easy to make. The Vanilla Spiced cake base is my basic vanilla cake/cupcake recipe. I am also coming out with a 6-inch vanilla cake mix in the next few weeks. This mix also makes 12 dozen large cupcakes!
For my Raw Salted Caramel Sauce, I created a step-by-step YouTubevideo a few days ago so you can see how easy it is to make. I recommend making it the same day you assemble your cake since the caramel sauce is much easier to work with once it's on the warmer runnier side (as the constancy is when you make it). If you make the caramel in advance, take it out a few hours before using it. Also, pop it in the microwave for a few 20-sec intervals and string between intervals, so warm it up.
Lastly, you can always buy your own apple butter, but there is nothing like homemade apple butter. Plus, apple butter can be pretty pricey, but for the amount you need in this cake, you can purchase a small jar to cut down the cake prep. Spiced Apple Butter Recipe is below.
The buttercream frosting is so heavenly and delightful. You can make this frosting in a dairy-free option that I have on my blog. Get my Perfect Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting below, also.
Okay, let's make a cake!
Salted Caramel Apple Butter Vanilla Spiced Layered Cake Recipe
Fillings: Make the caramel & apple butter ahead of time so that it is called when you are ready to assemble and decorate the cake.
Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C.
In a medium bowl, sift coconut flour and measure all remaining dry ingredients. Mix and set aside.
Whisk together and pour onto dry ingredients in a separate medium bowl and all wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, mix the batter until well incorporated.
In two 6-inch springform cake pans, grease/spray with avocado oil, and trace cake pan bottoms on parchment paper, cut out and place parchment rounds in the bottom of the cake pan.
Using a food scale, place the cake pan on top of the food scale, tare to 0, and add divide the cake batter in half to each prepped cake pan. Or, you may use measuring cups to evenly measure the same amount of batter in each cake pan.
Bake the cakes for 55-60 minutes, depending on the oven, or until lightly golden on top.
Once your cake is completely cooled to room temperature, it's time to slice each cake round in half with a bread knife.
Using a stand mixer bowl (whisk attachment)or an electric hand mixer, make the Vanilla Buttercream frosting: Recipe here
Start the cake layers in that caramel sauce (make sure it is warm), spread 2-3 tablespoons of caramel on three layers. Then add 2-3 tablespoons of apple butter ontop of the caramel sauce,
Pipe the buttercream frosting around the edges of each cake layer.
Stack the three filled layers on top of each other, and add the last cake layer for the top of the cake.
Lastly, add a dollop of buttercream to the top of the cake; using an offset cake spatula, try to get the buttercream close to the edge of the cake.
Once the cake is iced, add extra caramel sauce on top, or some pretty florals on top.
Place in the fridge until it's time to eat. Best to take the cake out of the fridge 30 min - 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for four to five days or freeze for up to two months.
Andrea Witthoeft
Author