Rose's Famous Exhausting Caramel Cake

Ginny,
My parents came to dinner last night and I decide to make this caramel cake from a recipe in Saveur. I'd never made caramel before, but it didn't sound too hard: just sugar and butter and evaporated milk, cooked on low heat for a really long time. I guess I didn't read the directions too carefully, though, because as it turned out I had to beat the caramel sauce with a wooden spoon for about forty minutes until it transformed from a thicky syrup to the consistency of cake icing. Needless to say, my arms were exhausted, but finally it did indeed get thick enough to spread over the cake and hardened overnight into a beautiful smooth glaze. The cake itself is basically a pound cake, so the whole thing is extraordinarily rich; I think the cake weighs about six pounds! Still, it was really good, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Caitlin

Apple Cake

Hi Ginny,
Over the weekend I made this recipe from yet another grandmother, my mother's mother. We have so many apples after a recent trip to an apple orchard, that I've been trying to figure out new things to do with them. This cake is really easy to make: it's just a simple batter that you spread on the bottom of a springform pan and then arrange sliced apples on top and bake it for an hour. It tastes great with a dollop of creme fraiche or even plain whole-milk yogurt. What have you been baking this fall?
Caitlin