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Top 4 Mexican-inspired Recipes
In the mood for some Mexican-inspired dishes? Try these wonderful slow cooker favorites!
Slow Cooker Recipe
Easy Autumn Cake
Today we’re making Easy Autumn Cake.
Why?
Because it’s officially autumn. Because we are craving a warm treat full of fresh apples, which are hanging heavily from the trees here in Lancaster County. Most importantly, we’re making Easy Autumn Cake because it’s a great dessert to share on Family Day: A day to eat dinner with your children.
Finding time to eat together as a family can be tricky when soccer games, play practice, homework, and after school jobs fill every evening. Sharing a meal as a family can sometimes feel like a special occasion. But research shows that the more kids eat at home with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink, or use drugs. Eating together at home is a simple tool to help prevent substance abuse. So this year, we’re making an effort to gather around the table with our family a couple nights a week or invite a few close friends over to share a meal. The fellowship with loved ones is sweet and may just be life-altering. For more information on Family Day, check out this site:
Family Day: A day to eat dinner with your children.
So celebrate your family tonight with a slice or two of this delicious apple cake. It’ll add a little something extra special to your time together.
Easy Autumn Cake
Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook, pg. 614
Makes 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 3-5 hours
Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 3½-4-quart
Ingredients:
2 16-oz. cans sliced apples, undrained (not pie filling) OR
6 cups fresh apples, peeled and sliced
18¼ -oz. pkg. spice cake mix
1 stick (½ cup butter), melted
½ cup pecans, chopped
1. Spray interior of slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Spoon apples and their juice into slow cooker, spreading evenly over the bottom.
3. Sprinkle with dry spice cake mix.
4. Pour melted butter over dry mix. Top with chopped pecans.
5. Cook on Low 3-5 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into topping comes out dry.
6. Serve warm from cooker.
Tip: The experts at our local fruit farm recommend baking with McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, or Granny Smith apples.
i had no idea that i could make a cake in the crockpot! thank you so much for sharing this recipe….i will definitely try this!
sincerely,
E. Griffin
Would this work with the liners also or would that not be a good idea?
Sounds yummy!
Kitty
Hi Kitty! You may use a liner in your slow cooker. However, we do not recommend using the liner to transfer this cake to another serving dish. The cake is comparable to an apple cobbler and will not transfer well. We like it best when served warm straight from the slow cooker. Thanks for asking!
This sounds AMAZING- but I live in another Country and have no access to a dry spice cake mix. Can someone share with me a recipe?
> I am sure yu can substitute any type of cake mix possibly even yellow or white and add a bit of cinnamon & nutmeg to give it that extra flavor not sure what is exactly in spice cake mix but I imagine cinnamon & nutmeg must be part of it
Hope this helps
Amanda: Add about 1 Tbs cinnamon and 1 tsp ground cloves. You could add 1/4 tsp nutmeg as well. (These are American measurements.)
Juiciness: As the way food cooks in a crock pot is different it does not need a lot of moisture to come out right. The moisture from the apples and butter is enough.
Lower the fat: One trick to lowering the fat in a cake or bread recipe is to use apple sauce for the fat. I think it would be superlative with the butter but if you are really fat conscience this would be the way to go. Use unsweetened apple sauce. Be advised that it could effect the consistency and volume of the cake.
> Thanks!
> My question is do you have a gluten free version of this? And, how will the consistency be in the crock pot?
When you say slow cooker, do you mean like a crock pot?
Yes, they are the same thing.
Hi Debra! Yes, Crock-Pot is one brand of slow cooker. There are many brands of slow cookers including All-Clad, Hamilton Beach, and more. Thanks for your question!
I have made a cake in the Crock pot. It was chocolate with fudge sauce and was very yummy with vanilla ice cream on top!
>Mmm! What’s that recipe?
maybe some raisins mixed with the apples? This sounds delicious!
Has anyone tried this recipe with peaches or raspberries or anything along those lines not a big fan of apples & our small grocery store apples are a bit high so if I am going to pay a higher price for fruit figured it should be one that I really like
Pears are WONDERFUL !>
Can’t wait to try this recipe. It sounds like apple crisp. YUM!
> If I use fresh apples where is the to come from?
Is it ok to keep it on warm after it is finished? I was wanting to take it to a fall party.
Hi Emilie! Yes, you can keep this cake on the Warm setting. The cake will remain warm without continuing to cook. In fact, we like this cake best when it’s warm. Happy slow cooking!
sorry, where is the juice to come from?
Stephanie, when you cook apples, the juice in them is cooked out (rendered) and is enough for the recipe, like when you bake an apple pie, the canned apples have already been cooked so they have already rendered their juices.>
Hi Stephanie! Make sure you peel the fresh apples before adding them to the cake. This way, the apples will cook down and create their own juice. If you feel the cake is getting too dry, try adding 1/4 cup water to it. Thanks for your question!
I have made something similiar in the oven……2 big cans of sliced peaches (drained) 1 box of butter recipe cake mix, 1/2-1 stick of butter…
Empty peaches into a 9×13 pan sprinkle cake mix over them, melt butter pour over the top of cake, bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, them broil for a few mins just until lightly browned….DELICIOUS!
Also excellent with cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple; I use a yellow cake mix. YUMMY!>
sounds yummy too!
this sounds DELISH
Can you use a liner with this so you could get it out of the slow cooker and put it on a serving plate? It sounds so good, may try it this weekend.
@ Linda: You can use a liner but I wouldn’t use the liner to try to lift the cake out. Maybe it’s just my cakes but they really don’t become totally firm, just firm on the top half then SOFT at the bottom, just perfect for serving over ice cream!>
Hi Linda! Because this cake has a consistency similar to apple cobbler, the cake will not transfer well to a serving plate. We serve this cake straight from the slow cooker because we think it’s best when it’s warm.
Any ideas on how to “lighten” this recipe…love the idea, but think 1 stick of butter seems like more then my family should have….
A stick of butter for an 8 serving recipe is 1 tablespoon per serving – not nearly the fat of many desserts. I think the flavor imparted from real butter would be worth the splurge
THANK YOU!!! I always struggle with new ideas for church potlucks. THIS is definitely going for dessert!
I’m confused, how does the box of cake mix become a cake without the oil, water or eggs that the recipe normally calls for?
Basic Cake Recipe
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda.
1/4 cup mayonaise
For spice cake:
3 Tablespoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
For chocolate cake:
1/2-1 cup of cocoa powder
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit or 200 Celcius
Combine all dry ingredients. Melt butter in the boiling water and then pour into dry ingredients. Add eggs and then mayonaise. Stir until mixed well. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Drizzle caramel over top after the cake is done.
Oh my Gravy, what a good idea!>
That IS a great idea! Thanks, Bonnie
I’ve made several cakes in my slow cooker. Church potluck favorite is peaches (with juice) with white cake mix. I use 1/4 – 1/3 stick of butter. That’s it..fast and yummy!
We call these “Dump Cakes” you know-dump in the fruit, dump in the mix, etc. just like the “dump cakes” you can make in the oven. Excellent with any fruit/cake mix combo you can think of. We do use pie filling for one of the cans though- 1 pie filling+ 1 can fruit+ 1 cake mix+ 1 stick butter. Could be why ours stays really soft on the bottom and firm on top. Plus I’m too lazy to melt the butter I just slice it on the top. Try these –
1 can pitted dark sweet cherries + 1 can cherry pie filling + 1 package dark chocolate cake mix (18.25 ounce) + 1/2 cup chopped walnuts OR chocolate chips (optional) + 1 stick butter
or
1 can of crushed pineapple don’t drain + 1 can of cherry pie mix + 1 box of Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden cake mix (18.25 ounce) + 1 stick butter
I have made this in a loaf pan with cherry pie filling and white or chocolate and also done the apples & spice. My recipie called for the small cake box like the old Jiffy or Martha Washington mixes. Put in the oven @ 350 for an hour. (if you don’t want to do crock pot) The cherry & chocolate is so incredible!!
love recipees!
When are you going to fix your sight, like many other sights, so people can copy the recipe & picture only ?
My question is this: we are vegetarians / vegans in my household due to choice and also due to health problems so we cannot use real butter *sigh*. Are the stick butter substitutes ok to use in this recipe?
Hi Grandma Patricia! Butter substitutes typically have a fairly high water content. We would not recommend using a butter sutstitute for this recipe as the texture will not be pleasing. If you would still like to try the substitution, check the packaging of the butter substitute to see if there are recommendations on how it could be used in cakes or if it cautions against using it for cake. Let us know how your cake turns out! Thanks for asking!
I haven’t ever baked a cake in a crock pot. Does it matter if you use a tall slow cooker or one of the newer ones that are low, like an oval ?? All these recipes sound yummy.
Thank you
Hi Grammy T! The shape of your slow cooker does not matter as much as the size. This recipe does best in a slow cooker that is 3 1/2-4 quarts in size. In general, slow cookers should be about 2/3rds full while cooking. Then it’s less likely to scorch around the edges (sometimes a problem with a too-empty cooker), or undercook the food (sometimes a problem if the cooker is full to the brim). Thanks for your question!
Can these recipes be cooked on high for less time?
Hi Desary! Quite a few cakes can be baked in the slow cooker on High. However, we have not tested this recipe on High. If you would like to try cooking this cake on High rather than Low, reduce the cooking time to 1 1/2-2 hours. We recommend checking the cake with a toothpick after 1 hour, and then every 15 minutes after that, if it isn’t finished at 1 hour. Thanks!
We use this recipe in a cast iron pot. Sit the pot on hot coals, place more hot coals on the lid of the cast iron pot and 45 minutes later, you have cobbler. We have done it with peaches, cherries and apple. Yummy! I’m happy to find a recipe using the crock pot so I don’t have to go camping to have this treat!
Great question, Donna!
I think I have this recipe in one of my FI & FI books…only it was a variant of dump cake. You just gave me an idea on what to make for 5th Sunday carry-in @church. Thanks all!
Do you put the whole box of spice cake in the crock pot? Seems like ALOT of dry mix on top. Thanks…gonna try it today!
Tried this recipe on Monday. Yummy and sooo easy! Whole family agreed it’s a keeper! Think I might add some caramel bits next time for a caramel apple taste?
I made this and it is delicious. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Will make this again for sure. We always have plenty of apples from our orchard and this is a great recipe to use some of them up. The caramel bits is a good idea, think I might add them the next time.
Will this recipe require the paper towel under the lid to help with extra moisture, or is the extra moisture needed?
Hi Stacie! You do not need to use paper towels in this recipe to collect the moisture. Thanks for asking!
A friend of mine made this recipe with fresh apples and she said it had too much juice. She baked it for 5 hours and the toothpick would have food on it when she tested it to see if it was done. What should she do different? She said it tasted yummy, but was too runny.
Thanks.
Can this recipe be done in a 5 quart slow cooker or will the proportions need to be adjusted?
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