Juiciest, Most Flavorful Apple Spice Cake

For months, I've been dreaming of an apple spice cake that has the same rich flavor and texture of a moist carrot cake but with the floral sweetness of apples. I searched high and low for such a cake recipe, but came up short. I tweaked and combined a few carrot cake and apple cake recipes, and the result is this incredible, crave-worthy cake that's a favorite in our family. It even has less sugar than every other recipe I've found and is also delicious without the caramel drizzle or ice cream.

"Your cake was amazing, so juicy," my friend said. "I took a bite and was mind blown."

Yes, this IS a mind-blowingly good cake and I make it every chance I get. You should too!

Apple Spice Pecan Cake with Caramel Drizzle

Ingredients for the cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3 apples, chopped small
• 1 cup chopped roasted pecans
  

Ingredients for the caramel drizzle:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature 
• 1/4 tsp table salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or round cake pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir in apples. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the middle is set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. For the caramel, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour in sugar gradually, adding 1/4 cup at a time. Wait until the sugar is mostly melted, then add in the next bit of sugar. Stir occasionally until the sugar is fully dissolved, and is an amber color. Turn off the heat and mix in butter slowly (2 Tbsp at a time), then stir in cream and salt. Pour into a separate container, then place in fridge to cool for 20 minutes.

5. To serve, top a slice of cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Enjoy!