Apple Irish Cream Cake

For St. Paddy's day, recently, I wanted to find an Irish dessert. 

Getting  mint anything just wasn't cutting it! So...I researched... 

Then I came across an idea for apple cake. But I didn't have much chance to actually go get the ingredients. However...I discovered that I could cheat making one with a spice cake mix & apple pie filling! Guess what! I had both!! Woo Hoo! So I found a recipe involving both ingredients & adapted a more authentic-like, Irish-inspired apple spice cake!

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APPLE IRISH CREAM CAKE

(cheater cake using cake mix & pie filling)

1 box spice cake mix
1 can apple pie filling
6 T butter + 2 extra, softened
2/3 C sour cream
1/2 C Irish cream creamer (I used Bailey's non-alcoholic coffee creamer)
3 T buttermilk + 1 tsp extra
3 eggs
1 apple, cored & thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith with it's tartness)
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T apple pie spice
1 tsp honey or agave
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Empty contents of the spice cake mix, apple pie filling, 6 T butter, sour cream, Irish cream coffee creamer, 3 T buttermilk, and eggs into a medium size bowl. Hand mix until all contents are well blended & is completely moistened.

In a small bowl, put in the leftover butter, buttermilk, plus the vanilla & almond extracts (if using), brown sugar, apple pie spice, honey or agave, and the lemon juice. Mix well together & then add in the thin apple slices & coat. Take your rings off & use your hands to work the apples throughout the mixture.

Grease or spray bundt cake pan (I sprayed mine with Baker's Joy). Use about half of the apple slices & arrange them in a circle at the bottom of the pan. This will end up being the top, so think about how the top of your cake will look when arranging the apple slices. Once the slices are arranged how you would like them, spoon in the cake batter evenly around the pan. Now that the batter is in the pan, covering the arranged apple slices, use the other half of the apple slices to arrange for the underside of the cake by carefully setting the slices on top of the batter (like in the picture, above).

Once the cake pan & batter are both fully prepared, place in the oven. It will need to bake about an hour, depending on the oven. Check it at 45-50 minutes; it could take up to about an hour & 15 minutes. Keep doing the knife or toothpick test to make sure it's done.

When it is time to pull the cake out of the oven, let cake set in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. After that time, and some cooling has taken place, carefully turn the cake out onto a cake plate or cooling rack.

This cake is best served warm...and should be very, very moist! Slice & enjoy!

I'm sure you could add in actual Bailey's, too. Still would be yummy!

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If you want to do a caramel or whiskey glaze for the top, you can...but there is no need for it! I left it as is...

And my family has fallen in love with this apple cake!! I will be making it again. And beyond just St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you love it as much as we do!

ENJOY!