Caramel Apple Sheet Cake

Do you ever buy an ambitious amount of apples, with the hopes that your children will choose a healthy snack. They don't... so you turn those apples into cake and they gobble it up. No? Thats just how I parent? Figures.

Cake Ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup applesauce

4 Tbs melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup pecans 

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13 sheet pan or baking pan with parchment paper.

1) Break the egg into a bowl and beat lightly. Stir in the applesauce, butter and both sugars. Set aside.

2) In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. fold dry ingredients into the applesauce mixture. 

3) Stir in Apples and pecans.

4) Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes our clean. about 18 minutes. cool. 

Caramel sauce ingredients: (feel free to use pre-made caramel sauce)

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into peices

1/2 cup heavy cream at room temperature 

Caramel Directions:

1) First, make sure you have all of the ingredients ready.  Once you start the caramel sauce you have to pay close attention so you don't burn it, or ruin it in a million different mysterious ways. (I hate caramel sauce) 

2) Heat the sugar over medium high heat in the bottom of a saucepan. When the sugar stars to melt, start whisking the sugar, the sugar will clump up but keep whisking, it will continue to melt. (so basically don't panic.. yet) When the sugar is melted, stop whisking. You can swirl the pan to move the sugar around.

3) continue cooking the sugar until it reaches a amber color. make sure you pay close attention... it usually happens quite quickly! 

4) When the sugar reaches the amber color, carefully add the butter. Whisk until butter is melted. If the sugar gets stuck to the whisk, you can switch to a wooden spoon.

5) Remove the pan from the hear and slowly pour in the heavy cream. whisk until cream is incorporated and caramel is smooth. Let the caramel sauce cool a bit before spreading on the apple cake.

To assemble, remove cake from pan leaving it on parchment paper. Spread cooled caramel sauce over the cake. If you would like the extra flash of white chocolate melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between...be very carful not to over heat stop the microwave process when there are a few chocolate pieces still unmelted and just stir until smooth. Drizzle over caramel sauce. Enjoy!