Caramel Apple Poke Cake

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Caramel Apple Poke Cake is a delicious cake for mid afternoon snacking or dessert. A moist spiced Apple Cake made with cinnamon, nutmeg and plenty of vanilla is mixed with tart Granny Smith Apples for a nice contrast to the caramel than covered with homemade caramel sauce. Add a scoop of Vanilla or Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and drizzle with additional caramel if desired. 

It's a delicious moist cake for fall the whole family will love and makes a great alternative to Pie at Thanksgiving. 

A side shot Caramel Apple Poke Cake on a white plate.

My three favorite words in the whole wide world Caramel Apple Cake. Swoon.. There's just something about caramel and apples that makes my heart pitter patter.. Its one of the things that makes fall one my favorite seasons, along with the gorgeous colors of the trees, cozy sweaters and boots..

I totally planned on posting this cake yesterday but somehow my time disappeared. I started out editing pictures, then waiting for them to upload, so I started poking around Facebook and Pinterest. I don't think I need to tell you what happened from there...

Before I knew it Colt was headed home to take me to a Doctors appointment, and I had barely accomplished anything including the afternoon nap I had planned. I wonder if I can have a rain check for my missed nap? Oh well..

How to make Caramel Apple Poke Cake, coming right up!

A stainless mixing bowl with butter and brown sugar added.

Cream 1 1/2 cups Butter and 1 3/4 cup Brown Sugar, until light and fluffy.. 

Imagine this said in my best Julia Child voice since I'm feeling rather saucy today!

Egg being added to Caramel Apple Cake batter in stainless steel mixing bowl.

Add 3 whole Eggs 1 at a time beating well, and scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

A stainless steel bowl with Caramel Apple Cake batter with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.

Add:
  • 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
Mix until well incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as needed.

Flour added to to Caramel Apple Cake batter.

Add 3 cups All-Purpose Flour, and mix on low speed until combined.

Diced Apple added to Caramel Apple Cake batter in a stainless steel mixing bowl.

Add 5 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored, and cubed.

Mix batter until combined.

Caramel Apple Cake batter spread in a 9"x13" pan.

For easy removal butter a 9"x13"pan, line with parchment paper, and butter parchment paper well. Pour cake batter into pan, and use a spatula to spread batter evenly.

Bake Cake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Sugar,  water, and corn syrup in a stainless steel pan for caramel topping for Apple Cake.

To make the Caramel Sauce add:
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 3 tablespoons Water 
  • 2 tablespoons Corn Syrup 
In a medium sized sauce pan.

Warm in a small pan over low heat until butter melts:
  • 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt 

Bring sugar mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and watch closely.  Allow sugar to cook until it turns a nice caramel color.

Hot cream and butter being poured into Caramelized Sugar in a stainless steel pot.

Slowly pour in cream while stirring caramel. Be careful as caramel will bubble up.

Homemade Caramel Sauce in a stainless steel pan on stove.

Cook Caramel Sauce and stir for about 1minute.

Poking holes in Apple Cake in 9"13" pan to cover with caramel.

Poke lots of holes in cake using a thick skewer... I find a little larger hole is better. I tried making it this time with my turkey forks, but the holes weren't quite big enough to soak the caramel in as much as I would have liked.

Caramel Sauce drizzled over Apple Cake in 9"x13" pan.

Drizzle 1 cup Caramel Sauce all over warm cake. Use a spoon or spatula to push the caramel to the edge of the cake and into the holes.

Then feel free to hide in the corner where the kids won't see you and lick warm caramel off of the spoon.. I won't tell..

Use remaining caramel sauce to drizzle over ice cream.

A side shot of Caramel Apple Poke Cake on a white plate.

Enjoy plain with a big glass of milk or a scoop of ice cream.

A few more favorite caramel apple recipes that I love are:

Caramel Apple Poke Cake, Apple Cake, Spiced Apple Cake, Caramel Apple Cake, Caramel Apple Snacking Cake, Apple Poke Cake, Apple Caramel Poke Cake, Caramel Apple Birthday Cake, Carmel Apple Poke Cake, Caramel Apple Cake Recipe, Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch, Serena Bakes, Serena Cake, Recipe for Apple Caramel Cake, Caramel Apple Cake, Caramel Apple Cinnamon Cake, Apple Cake, Homemade Cinnamon Apple Cake, Carmel Apple Poke Cake, Caramel Recipe, Caramel Apple Cake Recipe, Moist Caramel Apple Cake Recipe,
Dessert, Apple, Caramel, Cake, Thanksgiving Dessert
American
Yield: 12
Author: Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
Caramel Apple Poke Cake

Caramel Apple Poke Cake

Caramel Apple Poke Cake is a delicious cake for mid afternoon snacking or dessert. A moist spiced Apple Cake is covered with homemade caramel that is the perfect fall dessert or for Thanksgiving!
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 1 H & 5 MTotal time: 1 H & 25 M

Ingredients

Spiced Apple Cake
  • 1 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup Salted Butter, Softened
  • 3 whole Eggs
  • 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 Cup All-Purpose Flour or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Fluffed Before Measuring
  • 5 whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled, Cored and Diced
Caramel Topping
  • 1 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Corn Syrup
  • 3 tablespoons Water
  • 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Spiced Apple Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9"x13" pan and line with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper.
  2. Cream butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs one at a time beating between each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
  4. Add vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl.
  5. Add flour and mix on low speed until well combined.
  6. Stir in apples on low speed or by hand, until fully incorporated.
  7. Pour batter into greased pan and use a spatula to spread evenly. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
Caramel Topping
  1. In a small saucepan combine heavy cream, butter and salt. Heat cream until butter melts and remove from heat.
  2. In a medium sized saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and water. Bring to a simmer with out stirring. Swirl pan as needed to help sugar caramelize evenly. Cook until sugar is medium brown in color.
  3. Slowly pour cream into caramelized sugar while stirring. Cook 1 minute.
  4. Poke holes all over warm cake using a 1/4" wooden handle or dowel. Pour 1 1/2 cups caramel sauce over cake and spread to the edge of cake with a spoon or spatula.
  5. Serve cake warm or at room temperature with a scoop of ice cream if desired.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

629.46

Fat

32.29 g

Sat. Fat

19.72 g

Carbs

84.01 g

Fiber

5.27 g

Net carbs

78.73 g

Sugar

59.26 g

Protein

6.29 g

Sodium

418.32 mg

Cholesterol

123.76 mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

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A side shot of Caramel Apple Poke Cake with white text at the top Caramel Apple Poke Cake.
2 photos the top photo is a side shot of a slice of Caramel Apple Poke Cake on a white plate. The bottom photo is of Caramel Apple Poke Cake in a pan with caramel being spread over the top with a spoon. There is a white banner between the two photos with black text Caramel Apple Poke Cake.

3 comments

  1. I'm diying with this cake.. i mean, Caramel and Apples? so good together. This cake Screams " I'm here and i'm going to eat a slice of Fall!!! " I would eat this with some vanilla Ice cream on top.. i think would be a perfect touch

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the abundance of apples you put in this cake! And then it has caramel? It's like having an taffy apple. YUMMY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, my gosh. I want this...my very favorite autumn cake! I think I found my birthday cake!!! YUM.

    ReplyDelete

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