I love Caramel!!!

If you can’t tell, I love to bake! Its especially fun to bake when I know I’ll be serving it to people who love fresh baked goodies! Both of these recipes I made for my Life Group Bible Study. They are wonderful fall flavors and were served still warm. They would’ve been wonderful with a scoop of ice cream, but we didn’t have any on hand.

Oatmeal Cake with Carmel Icing (www.tasteofhome.com)

1 ¼ cup boiling water

1 cup quick cooking oats

¼ cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ c sugar

2 eggs

¼ c unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

For Icing:

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup butter, cubed

¼ cup fat-free milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over oats; let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in applesauce and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the oats. Pour into a 9x13 baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack. For icing, in a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Return to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minutes. Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Immediately spread icing over cake. Let stand until set. Note: I used part white and part whole wheat flour on this one.

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Fresh Apple Cake w/ Brown sugar glaze (www.lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com)

Apple cake:

1 ½ c all purpose flour

1 c sugar

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

½ c canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ c finely chopped apples

½ c pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Brown sugar glaze:

½ c packed light brown sugar

3 Tbsp butter

½ tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp heavy cream

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir with a whisk to mix everything together. In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter until the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the hot cake on a wire rack to cool. While it is still hot, prepare the glaze. For the glaze: combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.