Caramel Apple Bundt Cake with Nutella Ganache

What do you do with six leftover caramel apples from Halloween. You eat two of them. By yourself. Without telling anyone (shhh!). Then you start thinking.


I was thinking about how it had been 45 days since I last baked with Nutella. I told you I had a possible Nutella addiction. Come on now! Don’t judge me. 45 days is a long time.

And there they were sitting next to eachother: the caramel apples. The unopened jar of Nutella. Well, they weren’t right next to each other. I took the Nutella out of the cabinet. Placed it next to the caramel apples. I started to bake.

It’s been proven that Nutella has medicinal properties.

It’s been a weekend/week of sort of no sleep. Sick little guy. Me, a little grumpy needing a nap. Him, a little whiny needing lots of hugs. He put out a request for a Nutella cake. I obliged. I was very happy to oblige.

You see, he enabled that little problem that I have.

I opened the Nutella jar and began to smile. I spooned it into the rich batter. It wasn’t enough. I remembered the ganache frosting I made here. It was time to make it again.

The day got brighter. Little guy started to feel better. We snuggled some more on the couch waiting for the cake to be ready.  I was beginning to feel slightly less grumpy.
I told you, Nutella has medicinal properties.

I make apple cakes quite often. Probably once a week.  I have to say that this cake is truly delicious. It's so good, I made it twice! (two apples per cake...you do the math). The cake is so moist. Halloween candy is even better in a vanilla bundt! The caramel apples combined with the Nutella is bringing me to tears. The ganache is amazing enough to eat right out of the bowl. Make this cake now. (You could substitute the caramel apples with regular apples.)

Caramel Apple Cake with Nutella Ganache
yield: 10-12 servings

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 caramel apples, cored and sliced thin (about 1/4 inch thick)
6-8 tablespoons Nutella
Directions:
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.

Nutella Ganache
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used organic heavy cream)
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6-10 tablespoons Nutella (check for desired sweetness and consistency)

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Make sure to stir occasionally. Remove pan from heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until it is combined. Fold in the Nutella. Make sure it is the consistency you like and also check for sweetness. Let the ganache cool in a metal bowl with plastic wrap on top of bowl. The wrap will stop the ganache from forming a skin. Stir the ganache occasionally.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour your bundt pan.( I even sprayed my pan after with Pam baking spray because the first time I made the cake, the caramel stuck in some spots.) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, combine the egg, egg whites, and vanilla.

Cream the butter and the sugar until nice and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Slowly add the egg and egg white mixture. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter. Beat until combined. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix until combined. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Beat in the rest of the buttermilk until combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat until combined and stop to spread the side of the bowl to make sure it is mixed nicely. Fold in the cored and sliced caramel apples.

Spoon about 1/2 of the cake mixture into the bundt pan. Spoon the 6-8 tablespoons of the Nutella around that first layer of the cake. Spread it around with the back of your spoon to make sure you have it evenly distributed. Add the rest of the cake batter on top of the Nutella layer. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. Check with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it is ready.

While the cake is baking, make your ganache. When the cake has fully cooled, spread on the ganache and run! This cake is amazing!!!

A future artist for sure. Daddy did the illustration. Lil’ guy painted it. Then he smudged brown paint all over the bigger dog. Then he cut it out.

Palm trees on Miami Beach, September 2010.

Sometimes I overlook the simple beauty of nature.