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Caramel Apple Cider Cake

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Thick, luscious caramel apple cider buttercream wrapped like a sweater around a light cinnamon cake, filled with apple pie filling, and topped with an entire caramel apple! 
Course Dessert

Ingredients

Cinnamon Cake

  • 4 egg whites room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sour cream room temperature
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 box white cake mix Duncan Hines is what I prefer, but you can use anything else you can find and it should be similar.

Apple Cider Buttercream

  • 4 sticks (or 2 cups) unsalted butter left out at room temp for 20 minutes
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon caramel extract optional
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1-3 packets caramel apple cider drink mix (.74oz each) start with one, then go by taste from there
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more for thinning
  • 7-8 cups powdered sugar

Apple Pie Filling

  • 2 cups finely cubed honeycrisp apples (or granny smith)
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • 3-4 Tablespoons water
  • 1 slurry (1/4 cup water + 1 teaspoon cornstarch stirred together).

Caramel Apple on top (recipe on website)

Instructions

Cinnamon Cake

  • Prep three 6" cake pans and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, oil, almond extract, and cinnamon. When thoroughly combined, sift in the cake mix. Don't over mix while stirring together. Batter will be thick.
  • Split between the prepped cake pans and bake for 25-27 minutes. Do not overbake - it shouldn't be darker than a light golden color. Let cool in pan for 1 minute, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Apple Cider Buttercream

  • 1. In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and 1-3 packets of apple cider mix, depending on how strong you'd like the flavor to be. Let sit for 10 minutes so the apple cider mix is fully seeped in.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter on medium speed until it's light and fluffy.
  • With the mixer on slow speed, add in the vanilla, caramel extract if using, apple cider heavy cream mixture, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, a half a cup at a time. Add in more heavy cream if needed to thin it out (maybe another quarter cup will do). Whip up on high speed until buttercream gets lighter in size and texture. You will need a piping bag to pipe a dam around the outside of each filling barrier, and also a small Wilton star tip for the design.

Apple Pie Filling

  • Mix everything in a saucepan over medium heat, except for the slurry. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes until all the apples are soft. Add in the slurry and stir until it's nice and thick. Add to a container to cool in the fridge until you're ready to assemble your cake.

Assembly

  • Add down first layer of cake on your cake turntable on a cardboard cake round with a touch of buttercream first to act as glue. Add on a thin layer of buttercream on the cake rounds, then pipe a dam around the outside rim of the cake. Add in about 1/2 cup filling. Repeat with the next cake layer, and then top with the last one. Crumb coat. Freeze for 5 minutes, then pipe on braid buttercream design going down, then going up. Top with more of the apple filing, then top with a caramel apple!