This Will NOT Keep the Doctor Away

In honor of "apple week" in the classroom, I thought it would be fitting to share with you a deliciously sinful recipe for a cake that calls for this juicy little fruit.

I love all things apple.  Honeycrisp are my most favorite variety.  There is nothing better...in my opinion...than a Honeycrisp apple.  Dip it in a little melted caramel and now your taste buds are havin' a party.  Circle E has the BEST Apple Strudel candle.  I mean, whoa...it makes your entire house smell like you've been in the kitchen all day baking apple pies.  AMAZING.

I'm a sucker for ANYTHING that involves apples.  I have a whole board dedicated to apple recipes...

I found this recipe in one of my Paula Deen cookbooks, so right away you know it's not going to be "light".  It's laden with lots of sugar and her signature staple....buttah.  And the best part is that it makes your house smell something amazing :)

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups apples, diced

CARAMEL TOPPING

1 1/2 stick of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1/8 cup of milk

First things first.  Preheat your oven to 350 and start dicing your apples.  I peeled mine first and then diced.  I used about 5 jazz apples and that was just the right amount.  

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, eggs, and oil {or as Paula would say, "AWL"}.  Add the flour to the mix....one cup at a time....and mix together until it's well blended.  Now add the vanilla and apples and mix until combined.  What you'll have now is a very heavy batter.  Get excited.  

Grease a 9x13 baking dish and evenly spread your batter into it.  

Bake at 350 for about 45-60 minutes {mine was closer to 55ish minutes}.  Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to see if it's done {toothpick should come out clean}.

Remove the cake from the oven and use a fork or knife to poke holes in it.  I just kept on pokin' until I couldn't poke anymore.

Give the cake about 15 minutes to cool.  While it's cooling, go ahead and make your caramel topping.  Place all of the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil on the stove top.  You'll wanna make sure you're stirring it consistently so that it doesn't stick to the pot.  Let it boil for a couple of minutes {while you stir} then remove from heat and pour it over your hole-poked cake.  

OH.MY.YUM.

Paula delivers once again.  

Of course, my boys would have nothing to do with this cake.  Good.  More for me.  

This cake is really heavy and really rich and gooey all at the same time.  In all honesty, I only had one slice.  It was one of the tastiest slices of cake I've ever had, but my sweet tooth can only handle so much sweet.  

This would be a perfect little dessert to serve to a group because it's definitely a crowd pleaser.  Proceed with caution because this is definitely not what they meant when they said "an apple a day keeps the doctor away"!!!!  But it definitely doesn't disappoint your taste buds :)