Apple Cake & Caramel Sauce without the Guilt

Just because you’re trying to lose weight (as I talked about here) or maintain your current weight doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a sweet treat every now and then. While my husband and I have been on Weight Watchers, we’ve occasionally enjoyed a small portion of some type of dessert. I feel like it’s been crucial to do so every now and then so that sweet tooth gets satisfied (and we’ve realized that just a little bit does indeed satisfy!).

I personally don’t love the desserts with artificial sweeteners, and after a fail or two, I have decided to simply use recipes that cut back on fat instead. Cooking Light has been my go-to for most of those kind of recipes, but then last week I fell upon this Apple Cake recipe from my Gooseberry Entertaining Cookbook! What? Their recipes are usually quite high in fat, but this recipe uses grated apples to make up for the normal fat ingredient. The result? A super moist and flavorful cake that we loved! I will admit that the caramel sauce was different. It wouldn’t be the kind of sauce you’d make for dunking apple slices, but it’s good on the cake. Considering that my traditional recipe calls for 1 stick of butter and this has only 1 tablespoon, I’ll gladly enjoy the flavor of the caramel without the added fat! Here’s their recipe…

Warm Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, beaten
2 c. apples, cored, peeled, and shredded
1/4 c. chopped walnuts

Caramel Sauce:
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 T. all-purpose flour
1/8 t. salt
1 c. water
1 T. butter
1/4 t. vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Mix together egg and apples; add to flour mixture. Stir in walnuts. Spread in a lightly greased 8″x8″ baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Prepare Caramel Sauce: Combine brown sugar, flour and salt in a small saucepan. Gradually add water; stir until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook for one to 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Serve Cake warm, drizzled with Caramel Sauce. Makes 9 servings.

If you want to make this really special, go ahead and make up some fresh whipping cream and add a sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin spice.

Think ahead to Thanksgiving and pin this on your Pinterest board so you can have a yummy, warm Apple dessert and not blow your calories for the day! You can have your cake and diet, too!

Another cake suggestion that’s lighter is this this Carrot Cake. It’s one layer and super moist and delicious! An Angel Food Cake is also a lighter alternative. This one is super good. I wish I had the WW points for these or the nutritional values, but I’m not that savvy! So sorry!

Happy baking!