Apple cider cake makes for a delicious, cozy treat during the fall and winter months. This moist, warmly-spiced recipe is easy to prepare and is quite the crowd-pleaser for guests. Plus, the fact that it contains fruit makes it fully acceptable for breakfast or snack, right? Whip up a glaze or cream cheese frosting to top this magnificent dessert, and enjoy!

Apple Cider Cake Recipe Image Credit: Julia Mueller

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Things You\’ll Need

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup cane sugar

• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/3 cup canola oil

• 1/4 cup unfiltered apple cider

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 large apple, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)

• Powder sugar glaze or cream cheese frosting for frosting the cake

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Lightly spray a bundt cake pan with cooking oil, then sprinkle it with flour. You can also use a 13" x 9" cake pan if you don't own a bundt cake pan.

Oil and flour a bundt pan Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 2

Add the eggs, sugar, pure maple syrup, canola oil and apple cider to a stand mixer or a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until combined.

Mix the wet ingredients with the sugar Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 3

In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and sea salt. Stir together well until combined.

Stir together the dry ingredients Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Add the chopped apple to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir well.

Add chopped apple to flour mixture Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 4

Add the flour/apple mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet egg mixture.

Pour flour mixture into mixing bowl with wet mixture Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Beat on medium speed until combined.

Beat until combined Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 5

Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt cake pan.

Pour cake batter into bundt cake pan Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 6

Place cake pan on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until cake tests clean when poked with a toothpick.

Bake the cake for 1 hour at 300 degrees F Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 7

Allow the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes. Run a butter knife between the cake pan and the cake to help loosen it. Turn cake out onto a plate, cake stand or a cutting board.

Allow cake to cool Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 8

Once the cake is completely cool, frost it with your favorite frosting. A powdered sugar glaze or cream cheese frosting works great.

Drizzle cake with frosting Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Step 9

Cut the cake into generous slices and serve!

Cut and serve Image Credit: Julia Mueller Cut generous slices Image Credit: Julia Mueller

Things You\’ll Need

• Double boiler

• 30 to 35 wrapped caramels

• 14 oz. condensed milk

• 1/2 cup butter

• Wooden spoon

• Wax paper

• Plastic container

Melt caramels for turtles slowly to avoid scorching. Image Credit: Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

If you've ever indulged in the candy confection known as turtles, you may have wondered how the caramel stays soft. Turtles are traditionally made with pecans, meant to represent turtle feet and a head. Caramel and then chocolate are poured on top of the pecans, creating a turtle-like look. Although there are many variations of candy turtles, all contain soft, gooey caramel that stays soft long after they are made. Keeping the caramel soft requires proper preparation, as well as proper storage after making the turtles.

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Preparing Caramel

Step 1

Fill the bottom pot of a double boiler with water.

Step 2

Combine about 30 caramels with a 14 oz. can of condensed milk and 1/2 cup of butter in the top pot of a double boiler.

Step 3

Melt the caramels over low heat, stirring frequently to combine the caramels with the milk and butter. Adding milk and butter to the caramels is what helps to keep the caramel soft after the turtles are finished.

Step 4

Prepare your turtles according to the recipe you have while the caramels are still melting, and use the caramel while it is still hot.

Turtle Candy Storage

Step 1

Allow the turtle candy to cool at room temperature. The caramel should still be soft after cooling.

Step 2

Place the cooled turtles in an airtight plastic container, separating layers with wax paper.

Step 3

Store the turtles container in a cool, dry place such as a pantry. Placing them in the refrigerator will cause the caramel to harden slightly.

Tip

Use a slow cooker to melt the caramels. A slow cooker melts the caramel at such a low heat there is little chance of burning, and it helps to maintain a steady heat while you are creating the turtles.

Using pre-made caramels saves times and avoids the possibility of overcooking the caramel, causing it to become brittle and hard.

Things You\’ll Need

• Powdered sugar

• Egg whites

• Lemon juice

• Mixing bowl

• Electric mixer

• Food coloring gel

• Decorating bag

• Round decorating tip

• Spoon

• Icing spatula

• Toothpick

• Tray or plate

Flat, matte frosting works best on relatively flat cupcakes. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images

Cupcakes are sometimes piled so high with frosting that you can't really enjoy the cake. Use a flat, matte frosting if you prefer a balance of cake and icing. Royal icing, commonly used for decorating cupcakes, dries to a hard, matte surface that works particularly well for coloring because light doesn't affect it. On your cupcakes, use a slightly thicker royal icing than you would for cookies; thin frosting can run off domed cupcake edges.

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Step 1

Beat powdered sugar with egg whites and lemon juice until stiff to make the frosting. For every 2 cups of powdered sugar, you need 1 egg white and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix the ingredients in a chilled mixing bowl with an electric mixer, using chilled utensils.

Step 2

Color the frosting with coloring gel or powders to avoid thinning it out too much as can happen with liquid food coloring.

Step 3

Add the frosting to a decorating bag fitted with a round decorating tip. If you don't have decorating bags and tips, you can use a plastic food storage bag and snip the corner to create a round hole.

Step 4

Squeeze the bag to pipe the frosting around the edge of the cupcake, creating an outline for the matte frosting. Repeat this step with the remaining cupcakes.

Step 5

Squeeze the remaining frosting back into the mixing bowl. Thin it out slightly with more lemon juice and egg white. If you need to make a new batch of frosting, use 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice and 1-1/2 egg whites for every 2 cups of powdered sugar. If you drizzle some of the frosting in the bowl, the frosting ribbon should stay on the surface for several seconds before disappearing in the rest of the frosting.

Step 6

Spoon the frosting onto the cupcakes and use an icing spatula or toothpick to spread it evenly, pushing it up to the edge of the piped icing border. The thinned frosting should distribute easily in a thin layer.

Step 7

Set the cupcakes on a tray or plate and allow several hours for the frosting to harden and develop a matte sheen. It may take the frosting overnight to harden, depending on the thickness of the frosting on the cupcake.

Tip

Depending on how flat you want the frosting surface, you may prefer to simply spread the icing on the cupcakes with an icing spatula and use the thicker royal icing for piping the border. This might be the only option if the cupcakes have a steep dome because thinner frosting won't stay on the cakes.

If you prefer not to use raw egg whites in the frosting, you can substitute meringue powder and warm water. You'll need about 1 tablespoon of meringue powder and warm water for every 2 cups of frosting to achieve the thicker consistency and a bit more of each to make it thinner.