Cinnamon Sponge Charlotte Cake With Caramel Apples
A cinnamon sponge cake in the shape of a classic Charlotte, topped with fluffy whipped cream cheese and plenty of cinnamon and caramel apples. It’s a perfect taste of sweet fall flavors!
Preheat oven to 350°F and grease your Charlotte or 8″ cake pan.
In your mixer, beat eggs on high for 1 minute.
Add sugar and beat for 7 more minutes on high. The mixture should be really light and voluminous.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and cinnamon to ensure there are no lumps.
Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and carefully fold in. Add remaining flour mixture and fold in until incorporated.
Put cake batter in prepared cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Apples
Peel and dice the apples.
In a sauce pan over medium low heat, melt the butter. Add the apples, water, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the apples start to soften. This will take about 5 minutes.
Stir together cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons of cold water. Add cornstarch slurry to apple mixture and stir in. Continue to cook until it is bubbling and thick, about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Allow to cool completely before topping cake.
Whipped Cream
Beat cream cheese until creamy and smooth.
Add sugar and vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
With mixer running, slowly drizzle in heavy cream until it is incorporated and fluffy.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembly
Spread cream cheese whipped cream over completely cooled cake.
Top with cooled cinnamon caramel apples and drizzle with caramel sauce if desired.
Serve immediately or if assembled ahead of time, store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.