Monday, November 24, 2014

Caramel Apple Cake: Equipment Fail

Mmmm... Doesn't that sound delicious? Caramel Apple Cake!

I thought so, too.

And the recipe looked so easy!

Maggie-cat and Thatcher weren't as impressed.


By the way, this is an historic photo! It's the first time they've laid down together...at least without one of them holding the other one down in a choke hold!

Sunshine. It's their drug of choice.


I had plans to make this cake for our Sunday evening service at church. We usually have a small crowd, and the cake would be big enough to give everyone a taste.

So I gathered my ingredients,


Caramel Apple Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavor instant pudding
1 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup milk

3 cups peeled and coarsely chopped Granny Smith apples

20 unwrapped Kraft caramels
3 Tablespoons milk

Preheat your oven to 350°, and prepare a 12-cup bundt cake pan by greasing and flouring it.

Beat the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl until well blended, and then stir in the 3 cups apple pieces.

Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan.

Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes, or until done. You can use the touch test (lightly touch the top of the cake - if it springs back, the cake is done) or insert a toothpick near the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, then the cake is done.

So far, so good, right?

When the cake is done, let it cool for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges of the cake and invert onto a wire cooling rack. Let it cool completely.

Sounds easy, right?


It was at this point that my daughter said, "Maybe we need to buy a new cake pan."

I agree. This lovely thing came to us from a trash pile when we were living in Texas in the early 1990's. The price was right, but it has never - never - willingly released a Bundt cake.


I know what I'm putting on my Christmas list!

So, at this point, the next step would be to melt the caramels.


Add the 3 Tablespoons milk to the 20 unwrapped caramels in a small, microwavable bowl. Heat on high for about 1 and 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. When sauce is smooth, coll for about 10 minutes, or until it is slightly thickened. Drizzle over the cake just before serving.

Even though this cake would qualify as a fail, it was an equipment fail. The cake was delicious! Our poor friends at church, though. As soon as the vultures I live with learned that I wasn't going to be taking it to share, they descended on it.

Even before I melted the caramels.

Nope. Nothing wrong with the cake!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving, everyone :)

13 comments:

  1. I had a Bundt cake pan that did that. What a pain! If there was anything in the cake besides... well.... cake..... FAIL. Then Lacey got me one and it works great, it's heavy duty, made of something like rocket ship metal lining, I think, it might even have its own rocket boosters, it's that heavy... and it works. But I've discovered I'm more a sheet cake or layer cake person because I love fillings and I can just slice an old sheet cake in half, spoon in something delicious and amazing, pop the top of the cake back on and frost... So I haven't used Mr. Bundt in years. A shame, right?

    I love the sunshine shot and the VULTURES!!!! That's how vultures here react to things, too, LOL! Perfect, Jan!

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    1. Hmm, a bundt pan with rocket booster? I'm going to have to look for one of those :)

      The only reason that pan has survived this long is because I rarely use it. But right now, for the life of me, I don't know why we moved it from Texas to Indiana.

      And from Indiana to Kentucky, then to Kansas, and then to here.

      And why did I think I wanted to wash it after taking the pictures?

      It's heading to recycling in the big blue truck this morning :)

      Delete
  2. now I'm afraid to try a bundt pan...I swiped my mom's last trip up there when my friends said it was a good one and I was convinced that one day I might have time/desire to try my hand at baking...it's still in a box somewehre with the rest of the stuff.
    why didn't you just slice up the good part and pour the stuff over it?
    hey wait I minute- I DID do a bundt cake a long time ago! forgot about it- I used to do cake mixes back when I was in school (my mom hated it because i'd get flour everywhere from greasing/flouring the cake pan - but nothing stuck!) well la woman at their church had a recipe for orange cake and my dad loved it at the time so I decided to make it one day. even had a glaze. seems like it turned out great..maybe that's the same bundt pan!!
    Susanna

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    1. It sounds like your bundt pan is a winner, Susanna!

      And slicing up the cake and pouring the caramel over it is a great idea! I could have cut it into chunks, like for a trifle and added whipped cream!

      Oh, wait - the cake didn't last that long!

      Delete
  3. Oh that cake pan!! I know it was delicious anyway! Thanks for sharing your equipment fail!

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    1. Good morning, Piper!

      And that cake pan is history :)

      Delete
  4. Yep, and I looked at the bits and thought, "bread pudding time."

    How did your critters get matching coats?

    Blessed Thanksgiving to you.

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    1. Where were you and Susanna yesterday afternoon??? The only thing anyone around could think of was "yum!"

      And the matching coats? Maybe I have a thing for chocolate toffee ;)

      But it was funny - before we got Thatcher, I was perusing the breeder's blog site. Maggie came over to do her usual "I'll just lay on your keyboard" thing, and that's when it hit me. Her coat perfectly matched the puppy's picture on the blog post. It must have been a match made in heaven :)

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    2. I was at work yesterday! I think your family probably did something to your pan because they know they get to eat the fails!
      Susanna

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  5. LOL -- Maggie and Thatcher cuddling in the sunshine...now doesn't herald in the season of advent -- peace and goodwill and all! Sounds like a delicious cake....obviously the vultures thought so. I have a really old bundt pan but it doesn't have the ridges. It's all smooth. I have butter and flour it to death and even then it likes to old a chunk of cake. I'm always doing a patch job. I cop out and use a regular square pan most of the time. One I can line with parchment paper. So much easier.

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    1. I love parchment paper. You could say I'm addicted to it! I'm glad Sam's Club sells it in a big roll.

      And this cuddling thing - Thatcher's still enough of a puppy (at 20 months) that sitting in one place for very long is against his nature. But sunshine...oh, it feels so good on a cold winter day!

      Delete
  6. Darn that sounds yummy!!! I recently bought a new Bundt. Makes all the difference.

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  7. Hey, just chop it up and serve it in bowls then drizzle the caramel! Sound like a success to me! :)

    I just pinned your babies lying together. So precious!

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