Caramel Apple Pecan Cake with Crème Fraiche

Makes one 9" cake, serves 12

Ingredients
2 ½ cups cake flour - sifted
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large egg whites, room temperature + 3 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon sugar
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and position the baking rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Grease and flour two 9" round pans. Line each with parchment paper. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

In a glass-measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla. Set aside. In a small measuring cup, place the two egg whites. Briefly whisk to break up. Set aside.

In bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted the paddle attachment, cream the butter until it sticks to the sides of the bowl, and its texture is light and fluffy, two minutes. Add the sugar and beat until creamy, about three more minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Keeping the mixer on medium speed, gradually pour in the two egg whites. Cream until the mixture is light and fluffy, about three minutes.

In alternating sequence, scraping down the bowl between each addition, add the flour mixture in three parts and the milk mixture in two parts. Mix until each is just combined. Beat the remaining three egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the teaspoon of sugar. Continue beating until firm peaks form. Do not over beat.

Gently fold ¼ of the egg whites into the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Run a knife around the outside of each cake to detach it from the pan. Allow the cakes to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely, right side up. Leave the parchment paper attached to the bottom of the cake until you are ready to assemble the cake.

The Apple Cinnamon Filling
5 apples - peeled & sliced
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
½ cup of sugar.
In a medium sized saucepan, cook all the ingredients over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, until the apples are soft and the flavors have blended well together. Mash the apple mixture, so that it resembles applesauce. Set aside to cool.

The Simple Syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring sugar and water to a low simmer, stirring dissolve the sugar completely. Remove from the heat and cool. Set aside.

The Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
8 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup heavy cream

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, gently stir the sugar and water together. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, increase the heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Do not stir after this point. Cook until the color around the edges starts to darken. Gently swirl the pan to even out the color. Cook until the mixture reaches a medium amber color. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the butter. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream, the vanilla and the salt to combine. Set aside to cool completely at room temperature.

The Crème Fraiche Filling
8 oz tub of crème fraiche
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sugar.

Beat the crème fraiche on medium speed in the bowl of an electric, fitted with the whisk attachment, mixer to soft peaks. Add the vanilla and sugar. Beat until the mixture is thickened. Refrigerate until needed.

The Classic Vanilla Frosting
Make the frosting just before you assemble the cake.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
tablespoon vanilla
½ cup milk
4 cups confectioner's sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, cream the butter until fluffy and light, about two minutes. Add the milk, vanilla and salt. Beat until combined. Gradually add in the confectioner's sugar. Beat until creamy and smooth. Set aside at room temperature.

For Finishing The Cake
2 cups Pecan pieces

Additional Equipment and Ingredients
9" cardboard cake round
two 9" cake pans
A serrated knife
An offset spatula

Assembling the Cake
Cut each cooled butter cake into two even layers. You will need three layers for this recipe. Reserve the fourth layer for another day.

Place one layer on the cardboard cake round. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with simple syrup. Spread a thin layer of caramel sauce over the first cake layer. Spread the apple filling over the caramel, being careful to not displace the caramel. Place a second layer of cake. Press down slightly to level it onto the apple filling. Moisten with simple syrup. Spread a thin layer of caramel sauce. Spread a layer of crème fraiche. Moisten the last layer of cake with simple syrup and with the remaining caramel. Place this moistened side down onto the crème fraiche layer. Press down slightly to level. Wrap in saran wrap and place in the refrigerator to set for 15-30 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator. Cover the sides and top of the cake with the Classic Vanilla frosting. Decorate the sides of the cake with pecans: over a baking sheet, holding the cake in one hand, press the pecans into the side of the cake with the other hand.

Serving the cake
Serve at room temperature with a warm cup of spiced tea.