This is my Grandma, Irene’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce. I found the recipe in her box long after she passed, and it brought back so many memories.
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce
The funny thing is, I don’t remember Grandma making this cake. What I do remember is having this very same cake at Church functions, school lunches, and funerals way back in the 60s, so the cake must have been pretty popular in the Midwest, or at least Northwestern Iowa.
About Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce:
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce is a rich, moist, dense cake full of apples and flavored with classic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s meant to be baked until a little dark, and best, I think, if the edges are a little crunchy and the cake is moist and caramelly, even before the sauce is added.
This is a nice, sturdy cake. Serve still warm from the oven, for instant gratification, or let cool first. But do take a few minutes to make that caramel rum sauce. (Go Grandma, with the Rum, lol!) It “makes” the cake. You need that sauce – and I know you want it!
BTW, you know a dessert’s good when someone licks their plate to get every bit of the sauce (and it wasn’t me…I knew there was more in the kitchen.)
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce
About the Caramel Rum Sauce:
The caramel sauce is insane. You’re gonna wish you were swimming in a big, huge vat of this stuff. And once draped over this cake, dripping down and pooling on the plate, it’s perfection.
The sauce is super easy and takes just minutes. In today’s world, someone might argue that this is a “butterscotch” sauce, but I assure you, back in Grandma’s day, very few would make that distinction.
As far as flavoring, if Rum isn’t your thing, add whatever you’d like: a teaspoon of vanilla or a bit of another hooch. Maybe brandy? It’s all good!
The Caramel Rum Sauce can be made ahead. It thickens as it cools, so err on the side of a little thinner than you’d like when it’s removed from the heat. Once refrigerated, reheat gently in the microwave for 20 or 30 seconds, then stir. Add a few more seconds if needed.
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce
Making Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce:
The only bummer about apple cake? Peeling and chopping the apples. Before I got my apple peeler, corer thingy, I used to peel by hand and then use one of those round apple slicers that are pressed down from the top of the apple. They’re cheap and will give you a head start on chopping.
Whether using the apple corer peeler or peeling by hand, the apples will need to be cut pretty small, but there’s no need for perfection. Just go for it. As a matter of fact, the variance in size is a good thing. It’s fun to bite into a larger bit now and then!
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce – if you put whipped cream on first it won’t slide off when the caramel is added.
Substituting Butter for Shortening in Old Recipes:
A lot of Grandma’s old recipes called for shortening, which is higher in fat than butter. I gave the equivalent measurement for our US butter, which is 1/2 cup pls 1 tablespoon.
If you happen to bake with imported butter, just use a straight 1/2 cup, same as the shortening measurement.
Storing Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce:
When the apple cake first comes out of the oven, the top will have just a bit of crispiness, and the edges might be a little crunchy, depending on how long it’s left in. To me, that’s the best part.
Once cooled and wrapped, the moisture evens out, and the texture changes just a bit. It’s fabulous either way, but it is something to be aware of.
Saving Money on Groceries:
I know I’ve talked a lot about saving money on baking items, on my site here, so I’ll just mention, if you don’t have an Aldi or Lidl, where the regular old prices are about the same as my grocery store prices, or don’t have a Costco (again, great prices) really shop all the sales around holidays, especially holidays that are known for baking: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and sometimes Valentine’s day.
Apples can be downright cheap or rather pricey depending on where you live. Yeah, I was shocked to see how cheap lemons were in Georgia and how expensive those apples were! Just the opposite of what I’m used to up here in Minnesota. Again, check Aldi, or watch the sales at the grocery store.
You want a good, hard tart apple for baking recipes, and the plain old Granny Smith is one of the best baking apples there is. And Granny Smiths are usually sold in bags and bonus! They’re cheap. You don’t need a super premium large sized apple for this recipe. A medium-sized apple will give you about a cup of apple in a small dice. If you are using larger apples, you’ll probably need four rather than the five the recipe calls for. And another bonus, the smaller apples are generally less expensive than the larger ones, too.
Hello All, I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we have! It was to resurrect it, and even more fun to eat after all these years! Thanks for visiting!
Mollie
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
- Category: Desserts Cake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
The Apple Cake:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening or substitute 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups apple, peeled and finely diced, about five average
Caramel Rum Sauce:
about 2 cups
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons rum
Mix ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer 2 – 3 minutes until slightly thickened. It will thicken more as it cools, and it should be loose. If it is cooked too long and thickened more than it should be, you’ll likely find it cloying. It can be flavored with other flavors instead of rum.
Instructions
The Apple Cake:
Cream sugar and either shortening or butter, add eggs one at a time. Mix dry ingredients and whisk together; add to sugar mixture and mix. Mix in apples by hand. This will look thick and strange – it’s ok, just forge ahead. You’ll think I forgot the liquid in this recipe, but as the apples are mixed in, the juices moisten the cake.
Spread in a 9 x 13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for about one hour. The top should look dried and a little darkened in places. Test by pressing lightly on the top of the cake; when the indentation comes back up, the cake is done.
Notes: This batter is really thick and you will have to spread it into the pan – you haven’t made a mistake! This is the perfect recipe to use an apple/corer/slicer.
Caramel Rum Sauce:
Mix ingredients, butter, cream, sugar, brown sugar, and rum in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer 2 – 3 minutes until slightly thickened. It will thicken more as it cools, and it should be loose.
If the sauce has thickened more than it should, you’ll likely find it cloying. Simply add water by the teaspoon and mix to thin it out.
Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce – apple corer/slicer makes short work of things! Rinse it as soon as you are finished.
__________________________________
I’ll be sharing Grandma’s Apple Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce at Fiesta Friday #247, hosted this week by Antonia @ Zoale.com and Laurena @ Life Diet Health. There are lots of fun fall dishes & Halloween Party food already linked up there! Stop by and check it out.
Pingback: Four Of The Basic Ingredients In The Devil’s Kitchen :: In The Devil's Kitchen