NERD ALERT: Did you know that pie has roots all the way back to ancient Egyptian times, and the first recipe for pie was published by the Romans? Also, apparently there’s an American Pie Counsel that might just be the coolest thing ever (thank you, Google). With July 4th coming up, I really don’t think that there’s really anything more American than pie…except maybe pie in cake form?
My boyfriend’s older brother and girlfriend are headed up from St. Louis for the weekend to meet the fam (gasp!) and also celebrate Fourth of July. As with any Korean get together, there will be lots of grilled meats, watermelon and if I have any say, cake (specifically, this cake).
I kid you not, this cake is SO good. It’s a soft and fluffy cake base loaded with apple, topped with buttery streusel and then drizzled with homemade caramel sauce. What part of that sounds bad? And the best part? If you just make the cake portion, it’s dairy-free!! Also it can be made with or without a mixer (hooray!). So, when you’re scratching your head at what you make for that Fourth of July party you’re going to, I hope you make this one! I promise you there won’t be a single crumb left.
IMPORTANT: When making the caramel, if you add in the heavy cream too quickly, the cold heavy cream will cause the caramel mixture to seize up and harden.
SALTED CARAMEL APPLE CAKE WITH STREUSEL | Makes one 10″ cake
SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- In a medium sauce pan, heat sugar until it beings to melt. Constantly mix sugar with spatula to evenly distribute heat. The chunks of sugar should slowly dissolve into liquid and the sugar should begin to turn an amber color. If it looks like mixture is turning dark too quickly, remove from heat fro 10-15 seconds while stirring to prevent burning.
- Once sugar is melted, immediately add in butter and swirl it in. Once butter is melted, turn heat to low and slowly (thin drizzle) add in heavy cream while constantly stirring.
- Toss in salt and mix thoroughly.
- Extra caramel will keep in airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 month.
STREUSEL
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter
- Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Mix well.
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch pieces and combine with dry ingredients. With hands, work butter into dry mixture until large, moist clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
CAKE
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup neutral tasting vegetable oil
- 1 egg & 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 apple (ambrosia, fuji, or any other crisp apple)
- Either one 10 inch cake pan, or one 10 inch oven-safe skillet
- Preheat oven to 350 (F). Oil and line cake pan with parchment paper If using skillet, simply oil pan.
- Beat oil and sugar together in a large bowl until well-mixed. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until mixture is thick and creamy.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. Then add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until well-incorporated. The batter should be very thick.
- Add in apple cubes and mix until pieces are distributed thoroughly. Then pour batter into cake pan, drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel sauce and top with streusel.
- Bake cake for 50-60 minutes until top is brown and cake tester comes out clean.
Enjoy!
dumplings&donuts 