OktoberfestIn honor of the traditional German celebration of Oktoberfest, this year I hosted a party at my house… complete with beer, of course, but to make it more authentic and fun, we also made it a German potluck. Some of my friends came with brats and onions, sugar glazed kielbasa, and German potato salad. As I typically do, I volunteered for dessert.

I thought about making a German chocolate cake, but while looking for recipes and finding nothing that jumped out at me, I came across this one, which, though I love chocolate, I thought sounded even better. I love apples, and thought it would make a delicious seasonal dessert. The recipe can be made in a number of different pans, but I chose to make it in a Bundt pan to keep it truly German themed. The cake can also be served with or without frosting… I chose to make it with a caramel icing, which was delicious!

The recipe I used (both cake and icing recipes are derived from allrecipes.com) is as follows:

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 eggsGerman Apple Cake Ingredients
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 small apples – peeled, cored and diced

Caramel Icing

  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup fat free milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon light cream

Directions

Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour bundt pan.
  2. In a mixing bowl; beat oil and eggs with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well.
  3. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the apples by hand using a wooden spoon. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until cake tests done.German Apple Cake

Icing

  1. Combine in a saucepan the brown sugar, salt, butter and milk. Cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Then cook without stirring until mixture forms a soft ball when a little is dropped in cold water (234 degrees F). Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees F). Put into small bowl and beat until it begins to thicken.Caramel Icing
  2. Add vanilla and cream and continue beating until of spreading consistency. If thicker consistency is desired, beat in a small amount of sifted confectioners’ sugar. Quickly spread on cake.

German Apple CakeThis turned out to be one of the most moist and delicious cakes I’ve ever made from scratch. I think something about making cakes from scratch has always scared me, as I’ve always been afraid of failure, but making this cake has opened some doors for me, and I’m excited to make more! The cake was so sweet and moist between the apples and sugar ingredients that I’m not sure it even needed the icing… I’m a sucker for caramel, though, and the icing did give it another flavor element that I enjoyed. I think this cake will make it into my repertoire for post-apple-picking baking every fall from now on!

What’s your favorite seasonal fall dessert??

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Filed under: Baking

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