This apple cake is a hybrid of two recipes – one from Easy Food Magazine and time me from a Lidl recipe card. However, this is no ordinary apple cake. Oh no. It has been transformed by the addition of my new favourite baking ingredient – salted caramel essence 😍

Salted caramel essence can be found in larger Tesco stores in the baking aisle 👌🏻Alternatively, you could stir a spoonful of salted caramel into the cake batter and drizzle with more salted caramel before serving.

This cake is equally as good with a cup of tea as it is with Mammy’s custard. However, my favourite way to enjoy it is with a scoop of vanilla essence. Simple but amazing.

Hope you enjoy!

Amy x

Ingredients
2 cooking apples
100g brown sugar
Splash of orange juice
200g caster sugar
200g butter
3 eggs
1 tsp salted caramel essence
250g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice

Method
Peel, core and chop the apples. Place in a saucepan with the brown sugar and orange juice and stew over a low heat for 10/15 mins until soft. Remove from the heat and mash to form a chunky apple sauce. Set aside to cool.

Grease and line the base of an 8″ round cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the margarine and caster sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs and 1 tsp salted caramel essence and mix in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spice.

Mix in the apples and their juices.

Transfer to the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for one hour. Allow to cool for 15/20 mins before removing from the tin and cooling completely before drizzling over the caramel icing.

To make the icing, mix together the icing sugar, 1/2 tsp salted caramel essence and enough water to make a smooth, drizzle-able icing. Decorate the cake as you please.