Halloween Cake! Toffee Apple Cake with Custard Buttercream

With it being October already and Halloween just a couple of weeks away, I thought I would make something for the occasion.
Toffee apples are everywhere at the moment, so I have given it a makeover!
The apple in the cake keeps it really moist, and the addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg gives it a traditional flavour which goes really well with the custard buttercream.
I made this a three layer cake, but if you want a smaller, two layer version just use 2/3 of the recipe.

To make three layers of goodness, you will need:

430ml vegetable oil
450g light muscovado sugar
425g self raising flour
3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
7 eggs
3 large Bramley apples, grated
1.5 tsp nutmeg
1.5 tsp cinnamon

For the icing:
300g unsalted butter
600g icing sugar
60g custard powder
milk, as required

Digestive biscuits, crumbled
tin of Carnation Caramel (you can make your own, but you do not need a lot so it is better to buy ready made)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan and grease three 3 x 20cm tins.
2. Simply mix all the ingredients together so that everything is combined and there are no lumps of sugar or egg yolks. The mixture will be very wet.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the 3 tins and make in the oven for 40 mins. This may take a little longer as there are three cakes, to check if they are baked stick a skewer into the cake to see if it comes out clean.
4. Once cooked, leave on a wire rack until completely cool.
5. To make the buttercream, cream the butter, icing sugar and custard powder until smooth. If the mixture is a little thick, add some milk. Be wary not to add too much, as the custard powder will gradually thin the mixture more.
6. Once the cakes are cool, spread a layer of caramel on to the cake then add a layer of buttercream. Drizzle over a little more caramel then sandwich a cake on top.
7. Repeat for the next layer
8. Ice the top and the side of the cakes with the leftover butter cream (it is ok if some of the cake shows through, as it is a 'naked' cake)
9. Sprinkle the digestive biscuits round the bottom and top of the cake. Drizzle a little more caramel and top with a toffee apple.
10. Enjoy with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!