Caramel Apple Cake

Name: Caramel Apple Cake
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 26
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 567 grams 70 soft caramels (about; 237 milliliters cocktail peanuts, roughly chopped; 20 drops red food coloring; 1 kilograms boxes spice cake mix (plus required ingredients); 2 dashes vanilla extract; 907 grams vanilla frosting; 10 drops yellow food coloring

This gluten free and fodmap friendly recipe serves 26. One serving contains 435 calories, 4g of protein, and 16g of fat. It will be a hit at your Halloween event. Head to the store and pick up spice cake mix, cocktail peanuts, vanillan extract, and a few other things to make it today. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes about 2 hours.

Instructions

Coat four 9-inch-round cake pans with cooking spray and prepare the cake mixes as directed (or coat 2 pans and make the cakes in 2 batches). Divide the batter among the pans and bake as directed.

Ingredients you will need

Cooking Spray

Equipment you will use

Oven

Let cool 20 minutes, then remove from the pans and let cool completely.

Stack the cakes on an upside-down cake pan, spreading frosting between the layers. Freeze 30 minutes. Using a small serrated knife, trim the bottom 2 layers of the cake on an angle to resemble the bottom of an apple.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Apple

Equipment you will use

Serrated Knife

Cake Form

Trim the top layer just enough to round the edge, then carve out a 3-inch-wide cone-shaped piece of cake from the middle where the stem would be (about1 1/2 inches deep). Gather all of the cake trimmings in a bowl.

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Crumble the cake trimmings and mix with just enough frosting to moisten. Clump the mixture together and mound in a ring around the hole to form the top of the apple.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Apple

Cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting (this is the crumb coat-it doesn't have to be perfect). Freeze 20 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Remove from the freezer and completely cover the top 4 inches of the cake and inside the cavity with more frosting.

Ingredients you will need

Frosting

Mix the red food coloring with a dash of vanilla. Use a pastry brush to paint the top few inches of the cake a streaky red, blotting the brush on paper towels as needed. Repeat with the yellow food coloring to add a few yellow streaks.

Ingredients you will need

Red Food Color

Vanilla

Equipment you will use

Paper Towels

Pastry Brush

Unwrap the caramels and microwave until soft but not melted, about 20 seconds. Gather together, then flatten into a rectangle with your hands.

Ingredients you will need

Caramel Candy

Equipment you will use

Microwave

Roll out on parchment paper to make a 7-by-26-inch rectangle, stretching with your hands as needed.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Equipment you will use

Baking Paper

Lightly brush the caramel rectangle with water where you want the peanuts to go.

Ingredients you will need

Caramel

Peanuts

Water

Sprinkle the nuts on top, then press them in with the rolling pin.

Ingredients you will need

Nuts

Equipment you will use

Rolling Pin

Transfer the cake to a flat platter or sheet of parchment using your hands (don't touch the red part). Wrap the caramel around the cake, leaving the red top exposed. Tuck the caramel around the bottom of the cake; trim the excess with a knife so it looks like a pool of caramel. Insert a dowel into the top.

Ingredients you will need

Caramel

Wrap