FRESH Caramel Apple cake

About a month ago my friend S told me about apple picking in the Queen of England's winter home's orchards. Now I have lived in England for 6 years so far and this was the first time I had heard of this! I called my friend B and off we went with our familes to pick the Queens apples from the Queens orchards and enjoy some apple yummys. I am not lying to you when I say that I came home with about 10 - 12 kilos of apples. FABULOUS! But what the heck was I going to do with all that.
Well first I baked a pie. And then another and then another. I gave those away. :) I LOVE apple pie but a family can only go through so much of it.
Two french apple pies and a double crust pie. The only reason I made French apple pies was because I ran out of crust and had nothing for the top. I think fast on my baking feet sometimes. My crust is fabulously flaky and I use it for just about everything. I just cant get it to set up properly. Tastes great; looks terrible. Practice makes perfect I always say. Just keep making it and eventually it will come out the way I want it to.

This cake I made a couple of weeks ago. It was a hit! Everyone loved it and everyone wanted more. I have made this cake three times since then and am so thankful I had bunches of apples from the picking. Each cake takes 3 cups of apples. The batter was THICK and sticky and very tough to mix after all the flour went in. I thank my good sense for buying a heavy duty mixer 6 years ago. Without it I would be completely lost. In fact I have been toying with the idea of getting a second. But I was promptly talked out of that and convinced that the best thing would be to just get another bowl and flat mixer blade.
I should point out that this cake is dangerously good. I love the gooey mixed with the spice of the cake. If you have apples that you need to do something with and you and your family are all pied out, I recommend you try this cake.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups chopped apples, such as Rome Beauty
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Brown sugar topping, below

Preparation:

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. Beat eggs; add sugar and oil and beat for 3 minutes. Gradually stir in sifted dry ingredients. Fold in apples and vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Invert on a plate or platter, pour topping over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cool.  
Topping

• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Combine topping ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a full boil and boil for 3 minutes. Pour over cake right out of the oven.