If there is one thing you can’t say “no” to, it’s a hungry pregnant woman. At least, I can’t. If you are creating a human life, I will make you any food you want. That’s why when my 6-month pregnant friend  and co-worker asked me to recreate a muffin she loved, I had to give it a shot. 

One morning she called me over to her desk and told me to try the muffin she picked up for breakfast. It was a pumpkin muffin, but it was stuffed with apples, and had some sort of caramel glaze. Sounds delicious, right? It was! So I took a couple notes and told her I would come up a recipe for her to try.

I started with a pumpkin base, which I adapted from my pumpkin bar and pumpkin bread recipe. To that, I added some apples that I sauteed in butter, sugar, and cinnamon until then were soft. I folded the apples into the cake batter and then poured it into a bunt cake pan. I could have made these muffins or cupcakes, but I thought a bunt cake would be more fun. Plus, I had just bought this bunt cake pan so I wanted to take it for a spin. 

Once it had come out of the oven and was cooled, I poured over some caramel sauce. I actually used those caramel candies you would buy for dipping apples into, but if I had the time (and the cream), I would have made my own caramel sauce to pour on top. 

While the sauce was still a bit sticky, I sprinkled on some sea salt and pepitas for an extra crunch. 

Then I took the cake to my friend for a taste test. The verdict? It was good! I would have never paired pumpkin and apples, but it really worked! It was like apple pie filling meets a pumpkin cake. It was the perfect Fall flavor combination. And the salted caramel just sent it over the top. Literally the icing on the cake. 

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