Apple Cake Traybake

This Apple Cake Traybake is a simple sponge recipe with grated apple and spices to make it super moist and delicious. Traybake cakes are so easy to make and decorate, with no comprise on taste. I've paired the apple sponge with a sweet caramel buttercream to give the whole cake a toffee apple vibe. And then I've drizzled over some irresistable caramel sauce! It's a great cake for autumn in particular, but can be enjoyed any time of the year of course. It'd also be perfect for bakes sales and parties as it's quick and simple to make, and portions easily for a crowd.

How to make Apple Cake Traybake...

To make the sponge whisk together butter and light brown sugar.

Then whisk in eggs, followed by grated apple, then flour and spices.

Pour it into a lined tin and spread the mixture out evenly. Bake for around 25 minutes until golden.

Make a caramel buttercream by mixing together butter, icing sugar and caramel extract. Then smooth it all over the apple cake.

Tips for making the Apple Cake Traybake:

• You can flavour the buttercream with vanilla instead if you like, or leave it out entirely and just enjoy the apple sponge with some custard!
• I grate the apple, but you can also chop it up into small cubes
• If you can't get hold of light brown sugar, regular white caster sugar will work fine too, the cake will just be a lighter colour

What caramel sauce should I use?

My favourite caramel sauce to use is my Homemade Caramel Sauce, it's rich, smooth and absolutely divine! You can also easily add salt to it to make it into a salted caramel sauce. If you don't want to make your own, it's quite easy nowadays to find a good quality ready made caramel (or salted caramel) sauce in the shops or online. I have used Tesco's Finest, Bonn Maman and Carnation Caramel in the past with great results.

Recommended equipment & ingredients*

• Traybake tin
• Mixing bowls
• Cooling rack
• Kitchen scales
• Mixed spice
• Caramel extract

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More apple recipes...

Apple Cake Traybake

Yummy apple cake with a toffee buttercream

5 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Cake

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Author: thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 185 g Butter or baking spread
• 225 g Light brown sugar
• 3 Eggs large
• 240 g Apples grated (about 3 small apples)
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Mixed spice
• 275 g Self raising flour

For the caramel buttercream

• 160 g Butter or baking spread
• 320 g Icing sugar
• 2 tsp Caramel extract (I used Tesco's, if you can't find it see the recipe notes)

For decoration (optional)

• 85 g Caramel sauce Good quality shop bought or homemade

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and grease and line a 12" x 9" traybake tin
• To make the sponge, mix together the butter and light brown sugar until smooth, ideally using an electric mixer
• Then whisk in the eggs. Then mix in the apple using a spatula
• Then gently whisk in the self raising flour, cinnamon and mixed spice
• Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool fully
• To make the butercream use an electric hand whisk to mix together the butter and icing sugar, when they start to come together, add the caramel extract and mix until smooth. If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add some milk to it
• Spread the frosting on top of the sponge, then drizzle over the caramel sauce
• To serve, slice into squares. Store any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 3 days

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Notes

Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing Cinnamon, Coriander Seed, Nutmeg, Clove, Pimento, Ginger. If you can't get hold of it, use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead

If you need a caramel sauce recipe, try my Homemade Caramel Sauce.

If you can’t get caramel extract, add 75g caramel sauce to the buttercream instead, you will also need 1 ½ tbsp milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 411IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

If you like this, check out more of my Traybake recipes!