Hi, my name is Annie, and I’m an impulse shopper.
This is a serious issue in my life, and Amazon isn’t helping. When something pops into my head, I just click three buttons, and then I can expect it by Wednesday. The grocery store also exacerbates my problem. Golden Berries? Never had them, better try them. Biscoff Cookie Butter? I’ll take two. A whole wheel of Raclette cheese? I can freeze that, right??
This past week, my impulse shopping caused me to purchase a single caramel apple. This is not the most impetuous or irresponsible purchase I’ve ever made, but, honestly, by the time I got it home, I really didn’t want it. This poor, lonely caramel apple sat in the fridge until inspiration struck.
This is my first time baking in mason jars, but I’ll definitely do it again! For parties, I can’t imagine an easier way to serve dessert. There’s no cutting involved, no scrambling to find matching dessert plates, and on a buffet it’s easy for guests to help themselves. Going forward, I will probably use the 4 ounce jars for more reasonable serving sizes, but, if having too much cake is your biggest problem, things are going okay for you.
This recipe calls for a store bought caramel apple, but you could easily make substitutions. Make your own, use Hershey’s caramel syrup, omit one or the other; do what feels right to you. If you do go with a store bought caramel apple, keep is cold as possible to make it easier to chop. No other special ingredients or equipment are required.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 store bought caramel apple, chopped
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cups of milk
TO MAKE
- Preheat oven to 350º
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
- In the bowl of a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until softened. Add one egg at a time, then vanilla extract.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat until just combined.
- Pour milk in and blend until well mixed.
- Add remaining flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Add chopped caramel apple to batter, stir until apples pieces are evenly distributed.
- Distribute batter to mason jars, filling one third to halfway. If you are planning on frosting and serving with a lid on, I recommend using less batter.
- Bake 45 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Serve warm, top with whipped cream or frosting.
Pictures and recipe are my own, inspiration taken from Delish and Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate.
Scrumptious!