Caramel-Apple Pound Cakelettes are mini pound cakelettes topped with sauteed apples and caramel sauce. These cakelettes are straight from the cookbook Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams, and are nothing short of amazing!

caramel apple pound cakelettes on wire rack closeup

I have many cookbooks…so many that you may think I have a bit of a problem.  It’s a good problem, however, because while I enjoy coming up with my own recipes, it’s always good to take the day off, so to speak, and just follow someone else’s tried and true recipes.  Not only do you learn something in the process, but most of the time, the inspiration you receive is just priceless.

That’s exactly what happened when I received my copy of Jocelyn Delk Adams’ cookbook Grandbaby Cakes.  I learned some great baking tips, read about her wonderful family stories and traditions, and received priceless inspiration.

grandbaby cakes cookbook

That’s why I chose to use Jocelyn’s recipe for Caramel-Apple Pound Cakelettes to commemorate my 3rd blog anniversary, which was September 12.

Special days require very special desserts. 🙂

caramel apple pound cakelettes on wire rack

One of the things I love most about blogging is how generous and supportive the blogging community is.  Nobody can have a successful food blog without the help of others, and one of the most generous bloggers I’ve come across is Jocelyn.  I so appreciate the support I’ve recieved from her, and her comments always make me smile!  I’ve been following her blog Grandbaby Cakes for a few years now, which oozes with love and authentic southern recipes, and when I saw that she was coming out with her own cookbook, I pre-ordered it without hesitation.

While I knew I would love Jocelyn’s cookbook, I just didn’t know how much.  I waited a long time to receive it, and when I unboxed it, I couldn’t put it down.  Yes, it’s  full of beautiful photos, recipes, and baking tips, but it’s also full of family history with photos and stories that had a sentimental fool like me tearing up.  It had me remembering baking special birthday cakes with my mom in our kitchen when I was growing up, too, so I totally related to this cookbook.

overhead shot of caramel apple pound cakelettes on wire rack with caramel sauce

Food memories are some of the very best kind, and they stay with us forever. 🙂

The hardest part about this post was deciding between the Key Lime Pie Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Hummingbird Cake, German Chocolate Pound Cake, and many, many more!  Ultimately these Caramel-Apple Pound Cakelettes won me over because caramel apples are one of my favorite things, and they’re so flipping adorable.

Below is the photo from the cookbook:

Caramel apple pound cakelettes photo

I mean, how could I resist?

When you’re making a pound cake or pie crust, you want to make sure you’re using a really good quality butter, because it really makes a difference in flavor and texture.  

I don’t make pound cake often, and quite honestly, Jocelyn’s pound cake recipe makes me want to make it every week.  This pound cake has no leavening in it — the butter, cream cheese, pat of shortening, and sugar are creamed together for 5 whole minutes together with the whisk attachment.  

All the air that’s incorporated in this process results in a cake that’s so amazingly light and fluffy that it almost reminded me of angel food cake.  It’s that good!

Mini caramel apple pound cakes on wire rack with caramel sauce in background

Top these little beauties with tender, delicious apples and caramel icing, and you’ve got the perfect fall dessert.  The recipe called for pretzel sticks to resemble apple stems, but I realized I didn’t have any, and grabbed some twigs out of my yard and they worked perfectly.

I highly recommend the Grandbaby Cakes cookbook.  It’s so rich in family history and the recipes are the kind that will be passed down from one generation to the next.  

I for one will get a lot of use out of it!

caramel apple pound cakelettes on wire rack closeup

Caramel-Apple Pound Cakelettes

Caramel-Apple Pound Cakelettes are mini pound cakelettes topped with sauteed apples and caramel sauce. These cakelettes are straight from the cookbook Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams, and are nothing short of amazing!
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Ingredients

  • Cakelettes:
  • 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon shortening
  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Sauteed Apples:
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Granny Smith apples peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Caramel Icing and Assembly:
  • 3/4 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 6 small pretzel sticks

Instructions 

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Liberally prepare 2 5-cup or 6-cup mini Bundt pans with the nonstick method of your choice.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and shortening for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add the sugar. Cream together for an additional 5 minutes, until very pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
  • Turn the mixer down to its lowest speed and slowly add the flour. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Be careful not to overbeat. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
  • Using an ice cream scoop with a trigger release, scoop the batter into the prepared pan until each cavity is 3/4 full. Be careful not to overfill. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cakelette comes out just barely clean. Do not overbake.
  • Cool the cakelettes in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks and cool completely. Lightly cover with plastic wrap so they do not dry out.

For the Sauteed Apples:

  • In a medium saute pan, melt the butter and lemon juice over low heat. Whisk in the sugar and increase the heat to medium. Watch until the mixture begins to turn a caramel-brown color, which can take up to 8 minutes. Make sure the mixture does not burn.
  • Add the apple slices, heavy cream, rum, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, and cook until tender, about 10-12 minutes. While the apples saute, start the caramel icing. When the apples are tender, remove from heat and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

For the caramel icing:

  • In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the evaporated milk, sugar, and butter. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently until the caramel begins to boil and thicken. Keep a close watch, adjusting the heat to avoid burning.
  • Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract and salt, and let cool for about 6-8 minutes to slightly thicken.

To assemble:

  • Carefully spoon the sauteed apples on top of each cakelette. Drizzle caramel icing over the apples. Insert a pretzel stick into the center of each cakelette to resemble an apple stem. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

I didn’t have pretzel sticks on hand, so I grabbed some twigs out of my yard for the apple “stems”.
Recipe source: Grandbaby Cakes cookbook by Jocelyn Delk Adams.

Nutrition

Serving: 1mini cake, Calories: 850kcal, Carbohydrates: 142g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 149mg, Sodium: 846mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 86g

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to tag @flavorthemoments with the hashtag #flavorthemoments on Instagram so I can see what you made!

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