Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel and Pecans
This Fresh Apple Cake is moist, delicious, and full of flavor and texture! Crunchy pecans, a sweet caramel glaze, and chunks of apple in the tender cake make for a perfect combination! If you’re looking for the perfect dessert to serve this fall, this is it!
It’s finally starting to feel a tiny bit like fall here in Mississippi and I’ve been dying to start baking things that smell and taste like “fall”. Does that sound silly? I hope not… because this Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel and Pecans fit the bill in every way! It just screams “fall”!
Most of you probably know that I don’t bake from scratch very often, but this recipe was so easy to pull together and it was worth every minute of my time. It’s delicious, wholesome, loaded with texture and not too sweet. There’s the crunchy on the outside, with chunks of apple on the inside and it’s a super moist cake!
It’s also better for you than many cake recipes because there is no vegetable oil in the cake! Instead, it’s been completely replaced by Mott’s® Original Applesauce from Walmart. And I have to tell you – you won’t miss the oil at all!! Alrighty… are you ready to get started? Here’s what you’ll need:
Fresh Apple Cake
- 1 1/2 cups Mott’s® Original Applesauce
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 cups fresh apples, cut into small cubes (I used 2 large Granny Smith apples)
- 1 cup chopped pecans + a extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce, optional (click here for homemade caramel sauce recipe)
I love that every ingredient in this cake is a staple in our home and you can find it all at Walmart!
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Then in a large mixing bowl, blend the Mott’s® Applesauce, sugar, and eggs together until smooth.
Then add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, then mix again until well combined.
Next, add in the vanilla extract and mix again.
If you haven’t already, chop your apples, then mix those and the nuts into your batter.
Last, prepare a bundt pan. I spray mine with cake pan release or you could use a homemade version. Pour the batter into the pan then spread it out evenly.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The outside will be browned and crispy – the inside soft and moist!
After it’s baked, flip it out onto a cake plate to cool, then drizzle with caramel sauce and garnish with more chopped pecans. If you can, enjoy this straight out of the oven… it is ah-mazing when it’s warm!!!
Fresh Apple Cake Printable Recipe:
Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel & Pecans
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
This Fresh Apple Cake is moist and delicious and full of texture! It’s perfect for fall and better-for-you because the oil is replaced with applesauce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Mott’s® Applesauce
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 cups fresh apples, cut into small cubes (I used 2 large Granny Smith apples)
- 1 cup chopped pecans + a extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, blend the applesauce, sugar and eggs together until smooth.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, then mix again until well combined.
- Next add in the vanilla extract and mix again.
- Chop your apples, then mix those and the nuts into your batter.
- Prepare a bundt pan. I spray mine with cake pan release or you could use a homemade version. Pour the batter into the pan then spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes and test for doneness. The outside will be browned and crispy – the inside soft and moist!
- Flip out onto a cake plate to cool, then drizzle with caramel sauce and garnish with more chopped pecans.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Category: Dessert
What a great dessert idea for Thanksgiving! Yum! Apple and caramel together is my favorite.
Wow, this apple cake sounds so yummy. Pinning
Bev
Thanks Bev!
YUM! We’re so glad you party with us at Merry Monday. We always look forward to your projects.
Yummy. Those apple chunks inside the cake look so good – and the caramel topping is genius. #HomeMattersParty
Thank you!
Hi,
Could this cake be used for other pans like an 8″ square. I’m looking for a sturdy apple cake or cake with apple filling that can be cut into a shape and iced and covered with fondant. Do you think this recipe would work ? The others I’ve found are really moist and fall apart and I know that won’t work. Thanks for your response.
I haven’t tried it but I suspect it would work great.
What size bundt pan did you use?
It’s a 10-inch pan.
So good! Thanks for sharing.
Just curious can I decrease the amount of sugar to 1 cup.
I can’t get applesauce in the uk. What can I use as a substitute.
You can make your own applesauce pretty easily or you can substitute mashed bananas (it’ll add some banana flavor) or you can use vegetable oil).
Your cake looks so moist and delicious! I wish I had a slice of this right now…a perfect treat to welcome fall with.
What a lovely combination of flavors!! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner Party – Have a great weekend.
I made this cake a month ago; it was wonderful. My son said it was the best cake I made ever – wow.
I was wondering if I could put the cake in the freezer and finish the rest later?
P.S. I used Cosmic Crisp Apples
We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe as much as we do! You can wrap the cake well in plastic wrap then aluminum foil to freeze for about 3-4 months.