While pumpkin is generally the preferred flavor of fall, apple is my true favorite. I love going apple picking. And the farm’s warm caramel apples? They’re my true mark of fall. This is my favorite fall treat, in cake form.
Even though this is made in the slow cooker, and slow cooker dishes aren’t notoriously pretty, this is a company-worthy dessert. As long as you grease the crock really well, it’ll pop out in one piece and you’ll be able to slice it like an oven-baked cake.
The caramel sauce permeates the whole cake before settling at the bottom. The apples are also heavy enough to fall to the bottom of the crock, too. The result is, when you turn the cake out, you have a nice layer of caramel, lots of apple pieces and then a soft, moist caramel cake.
Ready to get cooking? Here’s what you’ll need:
Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- 1 can apple pie filling
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 5 oz. can evaporated milk
Instructions
- Grease the crock of the slow cooker very well.
- In a bowl, mix together the cake mix, apple pie filling and water until well combined. Spread evenly in the crock.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together butter, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk until well combined. Bring to a boil, stirring often, and then pour over the cake mix in the crock.
- Cook on high for 2 - 3 hours, until the top springs back when lightly touched. Turn off, remove lid and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Run a knife along the edge of the crock to loosen the cake. Invert the crock over a serving platter and let the cake drop out. Spoon any remaining caramel sauce over the top of the cake.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Would this work with a liner so you could just lift it out, or no?
I think that would work. You can also just serve it by dipping it out of the crock. You won’t have a nice presentation, but it’s easier to do.
Sounds delish and perfect for Fall!
OH.MY! MUST.TRY! It looks fabulous. Pinning!!
I made this last evening and it was really good. The only thing I would suggest is to bring the milks to a boil and let it thicken a bit. I’m not sure if that was supposed to be done in the first place as it doesn’t make it clear in the instructions. I only let it boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, and when I poured it over the apple mixture it was very loose. I assumed it would thicken a bit during the cooking process, but it didn’t at all. The end result was very good, even though it was very messy! I will definitely make this again, but will try it with the changes mentioned above. Either way, this really is a delicious cake!
What size crock pot was used for this cake? Is an 8 qt too big?
8 quart is pretty large. If you do use that size, you won’t need as much cooking time. You could also put a smaller size casserole dish inside the crock with a bit of water around it. That reduces the size of your slow cooker.
Yeah what size do you use for this?
This would work in a 4, 5 or 6 quart.
This recipe omits the caramel from the list of ingredients, but then mentions using “remaining” caramel at the end. How much caramel is used? And in what step do you put it in the recipe? Thank you.
Dawn, the recipe makes it’s own caramel from the ingredients. The “remaining” caramel mentioned is just what might be left in the crock after dumping out the cake.
Just thinking it might be pretty tasty with a spice cake too 🙂
It’s okay – my boys LOVE it. I may have not left it in long enough but it was the full 2 hours on high. It’s more pudding-y than cake-y and kind of goopy but very rich.
I think if I try it again, I will use thinly sliced fresh apples and a bit of butter and cinnamon in the bottom of the crock, then use more water or milk with the cake mix and do the caramel as directed.
I just made this and after two and a half hours in the crock pot it was, once turned out, a gloppy mess. The “caramel”, actually more of a butterscotch flavor, was runny and even though the wooden skewer came out clean, it was so soggy and mushy I had to put it back into the pot and spoon it out. Overall I would say that for taste it was good, for presentation, not so much.
Mine burnt and there was not the amount of caramel came out good I’d that 5 oz of evap milk
Or 15??? Please e mail me your reply. Thanks
Jean, I’m sorry that your cake burned. All slow cookers cook differently. It could be that yours is hotter than average. You may need to reduce the time.
What about the evaporated milk is the right amount 5 oz or 15. Thanks for your quick reply.
I loved the flavor of the cake. Jean
Jean, we’ve made it both with 5oz and 15oz. I used the larger amount and Kate used the smaller. It worked both ways for us, although I’m sure there was more caramel with the larger amount.
Hi, I want to make this today and I have realised I am not sure what the instructions are telling me. When mixing the cake mix with the apple pie filling and water – is this the cake mix, made up as per the box instructions (oil, water & eggs) or just the powdered mix itself?
Many thanks Sara
Sara, it’s just the powdered mix itself.
Fantastic, thanks for the quick response, I am glad I checked as I was about to make up the cake mix 🙂
I want to use fresh apples from our tree vs. the apple pie filling so what alterations do I need to make to the recipe?
I’m not sure. I think you could make your own apple pie filling and use that.
Does this have to be done in a crock pot? Or can i bake in the oven?
If you try it in the oven bake it for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees. I’m not sure how it will work though.
The cake cooked fine in the oven.. it did fall apart when trying to take out of glass pan.. but it is yummy
I’m glad it worked. Thanks for sharing!
I cooked this, it was divine the whole family loved it, thank you
Do you put your crockpot on high or low?
High for 2-3 hours.
Would you say closer to two or three hours? I’m about to make it an we’re on a time crunch between piano lessons and basketball
Erin, I know I’m too late to be much help, but I’d think closer to 3 hours.
I have printed out 4 recipes and the instructions say butter but not what kind ?
I always use salted butter.
Made this today with an old yellow cake mix I had laying around (better by… okay, 31 months ago). Think it came out pretty good. I have a combo, multibowl crockpot and made it in the 4-quart one (but it would have fit in the 2 quart I think). I set it on HIGH for the 2 quart for two hours, then kicked it up to the 4 quart for another hour. The bottom got a bit singed, though not badly.
I have never made anything like caramel before, and I should have kept a better eye on it. My wife was glad I only made a ‘leche caramel’, as the pan only got a bit burned. That was because I let the caramel mix simmer for about 12 minutes after it boiled, stirring every few minutes. It definitely has a caramel ribbon center, and no ‘sauce’ left in the crock. Maybe I should have gone with a vanilla mix, but it is still good. One thing I did add was to sprinkle ‘Apple Pie Seasoning’ into the crock over both the cake mix and the caramel layers. Hope these suggestions help someone else in the future!