This caramel apple toffee cake is the perfect fall cake. It’s a poke cake with apples, caramel and toffee bits all covered with cream cheese frosting. It’s made from scratch, but easy to put together and it makes a super moist cake your family will love.
This cake is THE cake for fall. It’s got all the elements of fall like apples, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, cream cheese. How could you go wrong with any of that? It’s seriously moist too.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
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You may have heard about poke cakes and if you haven’t, it’s basically when you’ve baked a cake and while it’s still warm, you poke holes in it then pour a glaze of some type over it to soak in.
Well, that’s what we’re doing here and it makes this cake SO moist.
Ingredient Notes:
Let’s talk a little about just some of the ingredients in this cake. (The entire ingredient list and instructions will be below in the recipe card.)
Apples: You could probably use any type of baking apples, but I really like the combination of honey crisp and granny smith apples. It’s a good combination of both sweet and tart.
Toffee bits: This adds richness and flavor to your cake and a little crunch to the top. I just used the toffee bits that come in a bag over by the chocolate chips in the grocery store. I got the plain toffee bits, not the chocolate-covered ones.
Caramel sauce: This is for the glaze you’ll use that will soak into the cake. I didn’t make my own caramel sauce, but you can if you feel motivated. I just used caramel sauce from a jar and it worked great.
Mixing Method Notes:
Let’s go over some quick mixing method notes. (You’ll find the entire instructions in the recipe card below.)
The mixing method for this toffee apple cake is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. Essentially you’ll just mix the liquid ingredients, then add in the dry, mix everything together, then add in the apples and bake.
Once it’s baked, you’ll poke holes in the warm cake and pour warmed caramel sauce over it and allow it to soak in. Then you’ll cover everything with a rich cream cheese topping.
Tips & FAQs:
I used a combination of honey crisp and granny smith, but you could probably use any type you like although I probably wouldn’t use red delicious apples because they don’t bake very well.
Try to chop them into about ½ inch cubes. You don’t have to be exact though.
Unsalted butter is best, but if you can’t get it, you can try using salted. If you use salted butter though, make sure to omit the other salt the recipe calls for.
Either works fine for this recipe, but I used light brown sugar.
Toffee bits are just crushed toffee. At the grocery store, you can find it in a bag over by the chocolate chips. There are usually two different types, the chocolate covered toffee bits and the plain toffee bits. For this recipe, I used the plain toffee bits.
No, you don’t have to use them if you can’t find them, or just don’t want to add them. It does give a lot of flavor and sweetness to the cake though.
It’s best if you use caramel sauce as it’s a main component of this cake. It really lends flavor, sweetness and moisture to the cake. Store bought jarred caramel sauce works great, but you can also make your own if you want.
They don’t work the same, so you want to use baking soda. To learn more about the differences, see this post.
Just mix everything until it’s well incorporated.
Don’t add any extra liquid. The batter is supposed to be thick. When the apples bake inside the cake, they’ll give the cake moisture.
This will help the cake not stick.
This allows the caramel sauce to really soak into the cake batter.
If you add it too soon, the topping will just melt and cause a mess.
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Supplies Used for this Cake:
Ok, let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Caramel Apple Toffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups peeled, chopped apples (A combo of honeycrisp & granny smith apples are tasty or use the apples you have available.)
- ⅔ cup toffee bits (not the chocolate covered toffee bits)
For the glaze:
- ½ cup caramel sauce (Can use store bought or homemade)
For the frosting:
- 1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 tablespoon caramel sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk (optional)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Spray or grease a 13×9 inch glass pan.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Peel and chop your apples into about ½ inch cubes. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, oil, sugars, eggs and extracts. Whisk well.
- Add in the dry ingredients (not the apples and toffee yet) to the liquid ingredients and mix with a large wooden spoon or an electric mixer. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- The batter will be thick, but do not add any liquid.
- Stir in the chopped apples and ⅔ cup of toffee bits.
- Spread evenly into a 13×9 inch pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake will come out with a few crumbs on it.
- Once baked, cool on a wire rack for only about ten minutes.
- After ten minutes (while the cake is still warm) poke holes into the cake with a wooden skewer.
- Warm ½ cup of caramel sauce in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Pour and smooth over the cake.
- Let the caramel sauce soak into the cake and allow the cake to cool completely, then cover with frosting.
For the frosting:
- Add cream cheese, butter and 1 tablespoon of caramel sauce to a mixing bowl and mix on medium to medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add in the extract, cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar and mix until smooth.
- If frosting is too thick, add a tablespoon of milk or cream and mix well.
- Spread onto cooled cake. Sprinkle leftover toffee bits onto cake.
Notes
Set it out about 20 minutes before serving, so it can come closer to room temperature. Nutritional values are an estimate. Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post. *This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
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