almond-apple cake with salted caramel sauce

Prepare to be amazed!! Recipes for apple cake are ubiquitous but this is really good. Super simple and quick to whip up, it is a good recipe to have tucked away for those times when you just need a little something. The salted caramel sauce is also very simple and although it is not absolutely necessary it takes the cake from delicious to heavenly. Maybe you will want to add it to the list of lovely things to make with apples.

My great-grandfather was apprenticed as a nursery-man in his native Wales before he came to Canada. When he arrived here he carried on planting trees and among those trees he planted an apple tree on his own farm. A generation later my grandmother used apples that grew on that tree to make her crisps, pies, and other desserts  - I used apples from the tree in my garden. My apples (like hers) are small-ish, crisp, and on the tart side; you will want to judge the number of apples you need based on the size you choose. I wanted chunks rather than slices of apple and cut the pieces accordingly. 

almond-apple cake with salted caramel sauce

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp good quality cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract
6 small apples, cored and cut into eighths

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon). Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk, almond extract, and melted butter. Mix by hand until all ingredients are combined.

Spoon the batter into a buttered 10" springform pan. Arrange the apple pieces on top of the batter. Sprinkle with 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 Tbsp of sugar.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is golden and a tester comes out clean.

salted caramel sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
large pinch sea salt

Melt the sugar in a 1 quart saucepan, stirring constantly so as not to burn. When the sugar is melted and golden in colour remove the pan from the heat and add the butter. It will foam up. Add the salt and stir well. Finally add the cream, stirring until the foaming subsides. Done!