Dulce de Leche Apple Cake

Hello friends! Today I will teach you how to make this stunning Dulce de Leche Apple Cake with a beautiful dulce de leche glaze.

This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk. But all opinions are my own.

This Dulce de Leche Apple Cake is perfect for fall and winter seasons. And it would be the most perfect Thanksgiving dessert, or the perfect cake to share on Christmas morning!

Make sure to watch the video on this page or on YouTube, showing you exactly how to make this delicious cake!

Dulce de leche is one of my favorite things in the world, and it goes so well with apples and spices like cinnamon. Which is why this cake is so perfect and delicious!

The secrets to the moist texture of the cake are:

• Oil instead of butter. The cake uses oil for the fat, you can use another type of oil such as avocado, grapeseed, or any neutral oil.
• Sour cream is often known as making for soft and fluffy cakes. It has a higher fat percentage than milk, and can be substituted for milk in this recipe, in case you are out of sour cream.
• Cornstarch is also added to the cake to make it fluffy and moist. Cornstarch tends to soften the strong gluten bonds, providing the cake with a tender crumb.

And here are some other tips on how to make the Dulce de Leche Apple cake super tender and soft:

• Don’t over-mix the batter after you’ve added the flour. Mixing too much develops more gluten, which makes the structure of the cake stronger, and therefore less soft and fluffy.
• Take care not to over-bake the cake. Too much baking can cause the cake to turn out dry and tough. After 40 minutes baking, begin testing the cake for doneness, by gently touching the top of the cake, and if it springs right back, it should be done baking.
• Keep the cake sealed in the fridge. The refrigerator tends to dry things out. Make sure to cover the cake while it’s stored in the fridge.
• Let the cake sit at room temperature before serving, so it can soften up.

Anyway, now let’s talk about the star of the cake, the dulce de leche!

Here you can learn all about dulce de leche! And below I am giving the oven directions on how to make dulce de leche out of a can of condensed milk.

My favorite way to make dulce de leche is in the pressure cooker. But I understand some people might be scared of boiling the can. In this post I talk about why I truly believe it’s safe to do so.

However, if you are still not convinced, the oven method is super safe! (unless you burn yourself, so make sure to wear mitts!)

You can read in detail about the oven method here, plus make sure to read the instructions below.

The only thing with the oven method dulce de leche, is that it often makes the dulce de leche a bit lumpy. You can minimize lumps by processing the dulce de leche after it has cooled down out of the oven, or strain it while it’s still hot and not too thick, as it will thicken out once it has cooled.

My favorite condensed milk to make dulce de leche is Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk. Well, they are my favorite brand of condensed milk period!

I have so many condensed milk recipes on my blog, it is seriously one of my favorite ingredients to bake with. It’s super versatile, it can be used in cakes, glazes, sauces, flans, frosting, and so much more!

Also, make sure to check out all of my dulce de leche recipes here.

In this Dulce de Leche Apple Cake, chopped apples are mixed with dulce de leche and cinnamon, and then baked into the delicious moist bundt cake!

This cake is seriously a dream!

But wait, there’s more!

The glaze! That beautiful dulce de leche glaze!

To make the dulce de leche glaze is pretty easy. Mix dulce de leche with milk and heat it up gently in the microwave until the dulce de leche loosens up a bit.

Then add sifted powdered sugar and whisk until combined.

The mixture should be a thick glaze, that still drips.

If the dulce de leche glaze is too thick, add a tiny tiny bit of milk to try and thin it out. By tiny bit I mean 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

And if the dulce de leche is too thin, simply add more sifted powdered sugar in order to make it thicker.

Here are some more recipes you might like:

• Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes
• Flan Cake
• Grape Cake
• Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
• No-bake Flan
• Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake
• Pumpkin Flan
• Pecan Fig Bundt Cake
• Chocotorta
• Pumpkin Tiramisu
• Dulce de Leche Cake

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe! Tag me on instagram if you make this cake! Thanks for reading!

Dulce de Leche Apple Cake

Camila Hurst

This Dulce de Leche Apple Cake is layered with an apple and dulce de leche mixture, baked in the middle of the cake. Topped with a delicious dulce de leche glaze.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Dulce de Leche cooling down time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 12 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 people

Calories 290 kcal

Ingredients

  

Dulce de Leche

• 1 14 oz. can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk 396 grams

Apples

• 3 cups chopped and peeled apples 354 grams
• 1/2 cup dulce de leche 150 grams
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 382 grams
• 3 tbsp cornstarch 24 grams
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil 240 grams
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar 400 grams
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream 60 grams

Glaze

• 3/4 cup dulce de leche
• 2 tbsp milk 30 grams
• 1 cup powdered sugar 125 grams

Instructions

 

Dulce de Leche

• There are several ways to make Dulce de Leche, I will show you how to make it in the oven.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Open the Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk and pour the milk in an oven proof pan and cover with foil. Place this pan in a larger pan, and fill the larger pan with water to form a water bath. Bake for about 3 hours. Baking time will vary depending on how much condensed milk you are baking at a time. As you bake, stir every 45 minutes or so, making sure the water from the bottom pan isn’t evaporating. If it evaporates, replace with more water so the dulce de leche doesn’t scorch on the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven when the dulce de leche is thick, the color is a deep caramel shade. The dulce de leche will get even thicker as it cools down once you let it rest in the fridge for a few hours before using it.

Apples

• Combine the chopped apples with the dulce de leche, the cinnamon, mix well to coat the apples. Set aside.

Cake

• Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
• Spread butter all over a 10 to 12-cup bundt pan. Then sprinkle with flour to coat. Make sure each crevice of the bundt pan is coated in butter and flour.
• Sift together the flour, the cornstarch, the baking powder, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, and the salt. Set aside.
• Place the oil, the eggs, and the sugar in a bowl.
• Whisk for one minute until very well incorporated.
• Add the sour cream and vanilla and whisk well.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients to the bowl in 3 additions, to ensure the batter isn’t lumpy.
• Mix very little, just enough to incorporate the flour each time.
• Once the mixture is smooth, stop mixing.
• Pour 1/3 of the batter on the bottom of the bundt pan.
• Spread half of dulce de leche coated apples on top, right in the middle of the batter, without touching the edges, so the apples and dulce de leche don’t leak out.
• Top with another 1/3 of the batter.
• Repeat with the remaining dulce de leche coated apples.
• Then top with the remaining batter.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes.
• At this point place a piece of foil on top, so the cake doesn’t brown too much.
• Continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven.
• Let the cake sit in the bundt pan for 10 minutes.
• Flip it over onto a plate or cooling rack.
• Let the cake cool completely.

Glaze

• Place the dulce de leche and milk together in a bowl. Microwave for about 15 seconds, and whisk to incorporate.
• Sift the powdered sugar and add it to the milk/dulce de leche mixture and whisk until smooth.
• The glaze shouldn’t be too thick, and shouldn’t be too thin. It should have a pouring consistency, so that when you pour it over the cake it drips down to the side, without melting all over the place.
• Test by spooning a drop of the glaze on the side of the cake. If it starts to drip and stops at about halfway down the side of the cake, the glaze is good to go, you can pour it.
• If the glaze isn’t dripping at all, it needs to be thinner, so add about 1/2 tsp of milk at a time, and whisk until you achieve the perfect consistency. It should be a minimal addition of milk at a time, a little goes a long way.
• And if the glaze is too thin, and runny, add more powdered sugar and whisk. Continue to add powdered sugar until the glaze is thick enough.

Storage

• Store the cake in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days. The cake will dry out if you don’t cover it.
• Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

Dulce de Leche: you can find more ways of making Dulce de Leche here. Or you can use store-bought. You will need about 1 1/3 cups of dulce de leche for the whole recipe. If the dulce de leche becomes lumpy (which happens in the oven method, you can place it in a food processor once it comes to room temperature and process until smooth).

Oil: you can use canola oil, vegetable oil, or even avocado or grapeseed oil.

Apples: I used Macintosh apples, use your favorite apple, as they will all work with this lovely recipe.

Glaze: the amount of powdered sugar and milk you will need for the glaze will depend on how thick or thin the dulce de leche is. If using store-bought dulce de leche, several brands can be very different in consistency and texture. Adjust by adding more powdered sugar if the glaze is too thin, and adding more milk if the glaze is too thick.

Sour cream: if you are out of sour cream, feel free to use milk or heavy cream instead.

 

Keyword apple, cake, dulce de leche