Southern Living Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Oh Southern Living, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. When I got this month's issue of SL, I knew what my first back to baking project would be. Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake. Look at the cover picture. Isn't it gorgeous? Fall on a plate. Just the inspiration I needed to lure me back into the kitchen, wheelchair and all.

Fall is my favorite season. Crimson leaves, cool air, long tunic sweaters paired with riding boots, and the smell of burning wood from my neighbor's chimneys. Heaven. But best of all I love fall baking. Apple and pumpkin recipes make me crazy happy.

Which is pretty funny considering who hatched me. My mother hates to cook. If it doesn't come from a box, she won't make it. Boxed potatoes, Hamburger Helper, macaroni and cheese, boil in bag rice, and all dessert mixes. I think there was a mix up in the hospital. Did Paula Deen give birth in Philadelphia in 1970? C'mon Paula, fess up.

However, my mom has a willing heart and was happy to help peel apples. Sort of.

This cake has lots of ingredients, but is very easy to make. That is, as long as you have a little help dicing three cups of apples. Thanks mom.

If you look at my ingredient line up towards the top of this post, you'll see confectioners sugar. It was supposed to be added to the frosting which would've made it look more like the magazine cover picture. Somehow I screwed the recipe up and omitted it. Because of this, we ended up with a caramel sauce topping which made it more like a sticky toffee pudding instead of a traditional Bundt.

A very happy mistake because the cake soaked in some of the caramel which made it moist and a little drippy. We also left out the nuts because there would've been mutiny on my bounty and the kids wouldn't have touched it. Looking back, that would've been the best plan. It would've left more for my mom and I. Mental note to self, extra nuts next time.

This may be my most very favorite Bundt recipe ever. Chunks of apple, baking spices, silky cream cheese, and gooey caramel sauce. Too bad it only lasted two days. You could name it Abracadbra Cake because it is certain to disappear before your eyes.

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake 

Courtesy of Southern Living Magazine 

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8oz pkg cream cheese softened

1/4 cup butter softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla (I used paste)

Apple Cake Batter:

1 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt (forgot this too and it didn't matter)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

3 large eggs lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil (used veg. oil)

3/4 cup applesauce (used unsweetened)

1 tsp vanilla ( find the paste, you'll thank me)

3 cups peeled and finely chopped Gala apples (Granny would be fine too)

Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar (or not if you like sticky toffee pudding)

Preheat oven to 350. Make filling by beating first three ingredients in mixer at medium speed. Add egg, flour and vanilla. Beat until blended and set aside in separate bowl while you make batter.

Toast pecans in oven for eight to ten minutes. In a large bowl; mix together three cups flour and next seven ingredients. Stir in eggs and next three ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. Add apples and pecans.

Spoon two thirds of the batter into buttered and floured Bundt pan. Spoon cream cheese mixture into the center of the batter. Use a knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the apple batter. Pour remaining batter on top. Bake for 1 hour or 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Say a prayer that it comes out whole and flip upside down. Southern Living doesn't tell you that, but it couldn't hurt.

Let cool for two hours. For frosting; bring brown sugar, butter and milk to a boil whisking constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Whisk in powdered sugar. Stir gently for 3-5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool slightly.  Pour over cake. Lick fingers and pot (once cooled of course). Hide cake in fridge and have with coffee every morning and then another piece after dinner. That's what I'd do anyway.