Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting

My boyfriend and I finally had the chance to go apple picking this past weekend. But where did all of the apples go? I guess we should have gone earlier in the season because most of the trees were bare. One woman told us to head over to braeburn apples, insisting that they were great for baking. There were definitely tons of braeburn apples left to pick, but we were the only people on that side of the farm. No wonder she wanted us to head over in that direction. 

Either way, my boyfriend found some good braeburn apples to pick. He did a great job climbing trees and finding apples for me to bake with. Then we walked around the rest of the farm and found a few more apples to pick. Definitely not a lot of good choices though.

In the end, I made the most of our braeburn apples and whipped up this apple cream cheese bundt cake with praline frosting. I had been eyeing this recipe for a long time and am glad I finally had the opportunity to make it. The cake is packed with chopped apples, pecans and a thin layer of cream cheese filling. It is the perfect cake to celebrate fall flavors. Hope you enjoy friends! 

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker (originally adapted from Southern Living)

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 cup pecans, toasted slightly and finely chopped

Praline Frosting:

1/2 light brown sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter

3 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan and set aside.

Cream Cheese Filling: 

Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the egg, flour and vanilla, beating until fully incorporated. Set aside.

Cake: 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, spices, baking soda and salt. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, canola oil, applesauce and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and whisk using fully incorporated.

Gently mix in the apples and pecans. 

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Top with the cream cheese filling, making sure that it is spread out evenly in the pan. With a knife, gently swirl the cream cheese filling a few times. 

Pour remainder of the cake batter on top of the pan. Make sure the batter completely covers the cream cheese filling.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. 

Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and allow it to cool completely. 

Praline Frosting:

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking the whole time. After 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Slowly whisk in the powdered sugar until mixture is fully incorporated and smooth. 

Pour frosting over the top of the cake and add extra pecans on top. Allow frosting to set for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy :)