Raw Apple Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

The fall is probably my favorite season of the year. The air is fresh and crisp and there are lots of different things to bake with. Plus it is cool enough to finally want to bake again after those hot summer months. I started off this cool weather snap with using some of the apples I picked up at the farmer's market. I used a recipe that my dad used to use when I was little to make the healthiest apple cake I have ever come across. The cake uses all whole wheat flour which is not often done because it normally will make a VERY dry cake. However with all of the apples, there is no way that this cake could ever be dry. I added the salted caramel sauce once the cake had cooled and it resulted in a great combination with the apples, almost like a camel apple in a cake!

Raw Apple Cake

1/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. peeled and chopped apples (I tend to use more like 5 cups...I like lots of apples!)
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tbs. ground flax seed
1 tbs. wheat bran
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together the sugar and the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the oil and vanilla. Stir in the apples until covered. Mix the flour, flax seed, wheat bran, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the apple mixture. Pour into an oiled and floured 9 inch square baking pan. You can also use two 8 inch round cake pans. I also just greased the pan and then lined the bottom of the pan with parchment.

If using a 9 inch pan, bake for 45 minutes. If using two round pans, bake for 35-40 minutes.

For the salted caramel sauce from Cara Lee Cupcakes and Cake, I used a recipe that I have posted before and it has yet to let me down!

I originally wanted to make this a two layer cake with a caramel filling, however it is probably too moist to do that. Plus I was out of cream to make the sauce and wanted to cut into the cake and it never looks good when a chunk is already cut out of the top layer!

Best Chocolate Cake EVER

I have found the recipe for the best chocolate cake EVER, and I really do mean to capitalize "ever". I found the recipe on Desserts for Breakfast, a great food blog, and followed the recipe exactly. The cake was rich and chocolaty without being too sweet. I mean there are almost 8oz. of chocolate alone in the icing!

I would post pictures, however I am going to just let you rely on the images from where I got the recipe. I didn't finish putting it all together until 9pm and by then it was too dark to get the natural light I needed for a good pic, but trust me, mine looked just like the pics on the blog. The icing was shiny and smooth while the cake was dark and very moist.

Here are a few warnings/tips if you make this cake, which I highly suggest! First, the icing really does need to stay cold/cool to spread and actually stay on the cake. I stuck mine in the fridge to cool down, but not to the point that it was solid. You should still be able to stir it and it should look shiny.
I made the mistake of letting the cake sit in the car on my way home from work while I ran into the store to grab more flour and sugar (I ran out... imagine that!). In the heat, the icing ran down the sides of the cake and ended up pooling on the plate.

Second, I used two 9" round pans and it just barely fit. I was lucky that it did not run over into the oven, but I would probably do the same again. I also only cooked it for the minimum amount of time listed... since my oven is finicky.

Third, I lined the bottom of the pan with parchment instead of flouring it (which I hate to do) and it came out just fine.

Really, give this cake a try...you just might cry it is so good!