Apple Cake with Caramel Cheesecake and Dulce de Leche
A caramel flavored apple cake heightened by dark brown sugar, layered with tangy, rich caramel cheesecake and topped with dulce de leche. An easy holiday dessert that puts a spin on the classic pies.
Ingredients
For the Apple Cake
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- dash allspice
- 1 stick butter 1/2 cup, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 cups all-purpose flour Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour works great; reduce the last cup by 2 tablespoons
- 1 cup shredded apples any, packed
For the Caramel Cheesecake
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons caramel sauce homemade or store bought
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
For the Dulce de Leche Topping
- 1 can dulce de leche two cans if you are making two cakes, one can for each
Instructions
For the Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch springform pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together until combined. Slowly pour in your melted butter. Beat until smooth.
- Add in your flour. Beat until just combined, then fold in your shredded apples.
- Distribute the mixture between the 2 springform pans. Bake 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. Your cakes will look extra brown; this is okay!
- Remove from the oven and run a flat knife or spatula around the edges to loosen. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove the springform sides. Carefully remove from the bottom pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
For the Caramel Cheesecake
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 springform pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add in your sour cream and beat until creamy.
- Crack in one egg at a time, beating after each one. Then add your caramel sauce and apple pie spice. Beat once more.
- Distribute between the two springform pans. Use a baking sheet big enough to fit two pans, or two separate small sheets.
- Place the prepared cheesecake pans on a sheet of foil and wrap it up the sides of the pan. Place the pans on the baking sheet(s), then add hot water around the cheesecakes to create a water bath. Bake 20-30 minutes or until the center is just set. It will be slightly jiggly.
- Remove from the oven and run a knife or flat spatula around the edges. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove just the springform pan sides.
- Once cooled to almost room temperature, place the cakes and cheesecakes in the refrigerator. Rest for 1 hour.
To Assemble
- I like to invert my cake onto a cooling rack and remove the parchment, then place the cake stand on top and invert it again so the bottom of the cake is on the cake stand.
- For the cheesecake layer, invert one cheesecake on top of the cake layer. Carefully remove the parchment paper and discard.
- For the dulce de leche, open the can and add a piping tip to a piping bag. Cut the end of the bag according to the size of your tip. Fill the piping bag with the dulce de leche straight from the can. Begin to pipe your favorite designs on top.
- Keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve.