Autumn always brings forth some wonderfully warming and indulgent flavours when it comes to food and celebrations. As Guy Fawkes’ Night festivities commence in the United Kingdom this month’s cake is nothing short of a subtle yet sumptuous treat; perfect to enjoy during the Bonfire Night shenanigans! Imagine slicing into a fragrant cake spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and ginger; covered and filled with home made caramel sauce and scrumptious apple buttercream; and then drizzled with even more caramel sauce! Wouldn’t that be the perfect addition to your dinner table this 5th of November and during the rest of the chilly season! If you’re outside of Great Britain we’re sure you’ll still enjoy this recipe too. The rich spices, tangy apple frosting and sweet caramel pair wonderfully with any autumnal soirée. The little fondant apples sat happily amidst dripping caramel resemble glistening apples bobbing in a barrel of water ready for party games.
Simple Spiced Cake Recipe (makes approximately 3 x 1″ layers of an 8″ diameter round cake)
453g self raising flour
453g butter
453g brown sugar
7 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teapoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the brown sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the happy eggs for around one minute. Once half of the happy eggs are combined add the remaining and the spices to taste. Mix for about 5 minutes.
Pour batter in the pan until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf of a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 3/325F/170C. Bake for around 30 minutes. Repeat this step to create your second and third layer.
Apple Buttercream Recipe
500g butter (around two packs in the UK)
300-400g icing sugar (keep testing when adding to make sure it is the consistency and sweetness YOU’D like)
6-12 drops of natural apple essence
Add half of the of butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer. Then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the flavour to taste.
For more hints and tips see our tutorial on how to make buttercream here.
Easy Caramel Sauce Recipe
260g caster sugar
4 tablespoons of room temp water
140ml double cream
50g butter
On medium heat dissolve the sugar with the water whilst stirring in a saucepan. Raise the heat until the sugar mixture bubbles and turns a lovely golden brown (this should take around 5 minutes). Take off the heat and stir the cream and butter into your caramel sugar mixture. Leave to cool and it’s ready to fill and pour atop of your cake!
To assemble your cake smooth caramel sauce and apple buttercream between each layer of cake. Next apply a thin layer of buttercream over your cake evenly leaving extra buttercream for later. Smooth and leave in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes to an hour. Once chilled smother the rest of the lovely apple flavoured buttercream over the sides and top and smooth with a spatula. Now carefully pour the caramel sauce over the cake and use a clean spatula to push the sauce to the edges so it drips luxuriously! Finally you can decorate the top with little fondant apples, fudge pieces, cinnamon sticks or caramel filled truffles!
We do hope you thoroughly enjoy this warm and taste bud tingling recipe during the ensuing chilly months. Try a generous slice with a cup of spicy chai tea or gingerbread flavour coffee for an uplifting treat!
