Hey Steemians, I have an exclusive photo shoot and recipe just for you!

I've broken into some really festive flavors today and I'm so excited to share this recipe with you. If anything says "Hello Autumn!," better than apples, caramel, and cinnamon all together in one amazing package, then I'd love to know what it is because I can't even imagine. 

All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G,  ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!

I've had a lot going on this last week, actually it's been more like this whole last month. I've been telling you guys some of the stuff going on in my behind-the-scenes life so I don't want to repeat, but have I mentioned how this is the time of year that our little lakeside town in Patagonia starts to come alive with tourists? Yeah, and the weather has been drastically turning into Spring so that's making it hard to focus on anything inside when you can literally smell the season in the air with all the windows open (which I'm so excited it's warm enough for that now!). And then, in defiance of the season, I've been trying to get inspired by autumn foods like this cake at the same time so it's getting a little confusing. 

On another side note; you know, I love what I do but it's surprisingly hard to describe what it's like to be a food blogger. I mean, I know food blogging has many similarities to other hobbies or occupations as far as trying to balance the chaos and multi-task inside it, but there really is so much more to it than people think. I've recently tried explaining some things about it to different people, but I never feel like anyone can fully understand until they've done it. It's the type of thing that you develop a love/hate relationship with. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely more love, but my point is that it's not all sunshine and cupcakes, it's tough stuff. Just sayin'. 

 So since I've been crunched for time more often lately, I've found myself dreaming up some great shortcuts to make my overall cooking easier. For example, this cake has been on my list for a few weeks now because I got inspired when I made my first upside down cake a few months ago. As soon as I flipped that skillet and saw the yummy caramelized fruit on top I pictured how good it would be with apples and also how gorgeous it would be as a layered cake so I've been planning to make this ever since. I only slightly adapted the recipe to make it fit this version and, I don't know why exactly, but it felt like cheating somehow. 

Then I started asking myself why and how it could possibly be a bad thing when my simplifying is making your life easier too. Can you see my logic? Not to mention that I was combining the best of the best for this creation by taking some pieces from other favorite recipes.   The secret is browning the butter first and it's become my favorite way ever to do caramel. It just had to be included here. Then besides the cake and caramel, the other part of the recipe is the cooked apples of course and for that it's relatively the same as making a pie filling, very easy. 

I came to the conclusion that at the end of the day there was no way to go wrong with this whole idea. It was agreed that when the craving for apples hits at any time during the season, this is the go-to cake for it. Oh, and a very important detail, this cake is most enjoyable while wearing cozy sweaters and/or fluffy socks! 

RECIPE

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Yield: 16 - 18 servings

Ingredients

Caramel:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons strong black coffee
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Apples:

• 7 - 8 medium apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cake:

• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour

Instructions

For the Caramel:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until butter is a deep golden brown, it should take about 5 minutes. Turn off heat for a minute and slowly pour in the cream, milk, and coffee (careful, it will sizzle), After that, add the sugar and salt and return to heat and stir gently until it comes to a boil. Boil for about 7 or 8 minutes until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from heat and stir in vanilla. You should have about 1 1/3 cups.

For Apples:

1. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat and add the apples and lemon juice. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until they start to soften. Add the sugar and continue cooking for another few minutes until the juice has started to caramelize with the sugar, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle in the vanilla and cinnamon then gently stir to combine. Grease 3 8-inch round cake pans with butter or oil and spread 1/4 of the mixture (per pan) into an even layer on the bottom of each of the 3 pans, reserving the last of the apples for the top of the cake. Pour 1/3 cup of the caramel sauce(per pan) over the apples and spread with a spatula.

For Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Pour egg whites into bowl of stand mixer and beat until they form stiff peaks.
2. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the baking powder, salt, vanilla, oil, and milk. Stir in flour until smooth. Now gently fold in the stiff egg whites to the batter just until evenly combined. Carefully pour the batter over the apples in the prepared pans and place them in the oven to bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the top starts to brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
3. Remove cakes from oven and allow them to cool for at least 5 minutes then loosen the edges all the way around with a thin bladed knife. Now, wearing oven mitts, invert a large plate over each of the pans and carefully flip them upside down while holding the plate tightly to the pan. Use a rubber spatula to scrape out any of the extra syrup left in pan and pour over each cake.
4. Allow them to cool for another few minutes to avoid damaging the cake, then carefully layer all three on top of each other so that you have a triple layer cake. Spoon the reserved apples over the top and drizzle extra caramel as desired. You can also add any garnishes you'd like such as nuts or leaves and flowers for decoration.
5. You can eat it while it's still warm or allow it to cool completely (warm is AMAZING!!). Oh, and ice cream or whipped cream with it is delicious!

 

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