• Preheat oven to 300°f and lightly grease an 8" square baking pan*. Combine milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside.
• Put all dry cake ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine
• Stir milk/vinegar, avocado oil and egg into dry ingredients
• Heat apple cider until hot but not boiling and stir in vanilla. Wait a few seconds to allow vanilla to bloom and then pour into batter. Whisk until smooth. Batter will be thin, this is ok!
• Bake cake in center of preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cake is done when center springs back when lightly pressed.
• Make the salted caramel while the cake bakes (recipe follows)
• Remove cake from the oven, let it cool 10 minutes, then poke holes all over the top with a wooden skewer.
• Pour 3/4 cup of the warm caramel evenly over the warm cake and spread it across the top, letting it seep down into the holes. Let cake cool completely. Then cover and chill 1 hour.
• Once cake is chilled, make frosting (recipe follows), spread over the top and chill overnight to let the cake absorb the caramel and develop it's dense texture. (it's good the day it's made but it gets better as it sits so try to be patient and give it a full day before you dig in- you'll be happy you waited, I promise!)

Salted Caramel

• *This will make more than you need for the recipe. Store extra in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks
• Place sugar in dry pan and place over medium high heat. Don't stir at first and watch very carefully. When sugar is about 50% melted and turning golden you can stir gently a couple times to help it melt evenly. Stirring too much can form crystals that are hard to break down later. Cook until sugar is all melted and turns a rich amber color. 5-6 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium and add cubed butter to melted sugar. It will bubble vigorously this is normal! Stir or whisk constantly until butter is completely incorporated, 2-3 minutes.
• Slowly drizzle in heavy cream, again whisking constantly. Mixture will bubble and parts may seize up and that's normal! Just keep whisking until it all smooths out.
• Once it's smooth, stop stirring, reduce heat to low and let it bubble gently 1 minute without stirring.
• Remove from heat and stir in salt* and vanilla. Remove from heat.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until completely smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, lemon juice and a pinch of salt, beat to combine.
• Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time until it's to your desired sweetness. (I leave this part up to you because we all have different preferences for sweetness.)
• Spread over chilled cake