1. Preheat the oven to 350F (177C) and grease and line three 8 inch baking pans with baking spray and parchment paper.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples. Place them in a food processor and pulse just until they look about shredded. No large chunks left but not pureed either.
   2 large granny smith apples shredded, (about 275g after peeled and cored)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
   270 grams all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 Tbsp nutmeg
4. In a large bowl whisk together the oil and sugar until they’re well combined.
   180 mL vegetable oil or any neutral oil, 300 grams light brown sugar lightly packed
5. Add in one egg and whisk until it’s well combined and has lightened in color, about 30 seconds. Repeat with the next two eggs, one at a time.
   3 large eggs room temperature
6. Add in the applesauce and the vanilla extract and whisk until it’s completely smooth.
   180 grams unsweetened applesauce, 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
7. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until there's a few streaks of flour left. 
8. Add the shredded apples and fold them into the batter, just until they’re evenly distributed.
9. Distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans, about 16-17 ounces in each, and bake for 25-30 minutes. The cakes should spring back when you press on the center gently. 
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10-20 minutes and then flip onto a tea towel.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1. Place the sugar and water in a medium size heavy bottom sauce pan. Swirl the pan until the sugar is immersed in water. Place the saucepan over medium heat and allow the sugar to fully dissolve in the water, gently swirling the pan every minute or so. 
   200 grams granulated sugar, 60 mL water
2. Bring the sugar and water to a simmer and lower the heat to low. Place the lid on the pan and allow the mixture to simmer until the color begins to darken to a light amber color, this should take about 10 minutes. Make sure to remove the lid and check the color at least every minute. 
3. You can gently swirl the pan every couple of minutes but DO NOT STIR IT WITH ANYTHING. If there are crystalized pieces of sugar on the sides of the pan, the steam running down from the lid should dissolve them but if it doesn’t, you can use a pastry brush wet with water to brush them away. 
4. Once the sugar is an amber color, remove it from the heat and pour in the heavy whipping cream while stirring constantly. Then stir in the softened butter.
   120 mL heavy cream room temperature, 84 grams unsalted butter softened
5. Pour the caramel sauce in a heat proof jar and stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
   1/2-1 tsp fine sea salt depending on how much you like, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Apple Pie Filling

1. In a small bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and sugar.
   3 medium apples 10oz/300g after cored, peeled and diced, 30 mL fresh lemon juice (1/2 large lemon or 1 small), 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 50 grams light brown sugar lightly packed

2. Place the butter in a small or medium saucepan, over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the apple mixture and cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes, until the apples start to feel a little more tender.
   28 grams salted butter
3. Remove about 2 Tbsp of the liquid into the bowl and mix it with the cornstarch to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the pot with the apples and cook for another 1-2 minutes until it thickens.  
   5 grams cornstarch

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place the room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until the color turns to a pale yellow.
   56 grams salted butter room temperature
2. Add in the cream cheese, caramel sauce and vanilla and beat at medium speed for a minute, just until they're combined.
   227 grams cream cheese room temperature, 4 oz salted caramel sauce if it’s not homemade, make sure its thick and not super runny, 2 tsp vanilla extract
3. Add the powdered sugar and salt and mix on low speed, just until it's combined. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat the buttercream for 2-3 minutes, until all of the sugar is fully dissolved and the buttercream no longer feels gritty. 
   480 grams powdered sugar spooned and leveled, tiny pinch fine sea salt
4. I like to refrigerate cream cheese frosting for about 30 minutes before frosting. Give it a good mix after about 15 minutes and again after 30 minutes.

Assemble

1. Once everything is ready and completely cooled, place the first layer of cake onto a flat surface. Spread a very thin layer of frosting onto the first cake.
2. Use a piping bag to pipe a thick border of frosting around the edge of the cake and then fill the center with about 1/2 of the apple mixture (don't make it come up passed the border of frosting).
3. Drizzle some of the caramel sauce on top of the apple mixture (in my photos I mixed the caramel with the apple filling - you can do that too or do it this way, either works but I prefer the layered way).
   4 oz salted caramel sauce
4. Place the next layer of cake on top and freeze (or refrigerate) it for 15-30 minutes, until the frosting feels more firm. Repeat with the layer.
5. Once the whole cake is assembled, freeze for another 30 minutes (or refrigerate for an hour) before frosting the outside.
6. During this time I froze an apple for the topping (you should have just enough caramel to cover one apple)*
7. Once the cake feels firm, finish frosting it (you'll only have enough frosting to lightly frost the cake). Refrigerate it again for another 30-60 minutes before drizzling the caramel on top (cream cheese frosting can be difficult to work with, that's why I refrigerate it often).
8. I recommend dipping the apple in the caramel sauce and placing it on top of the cake right before serving.