Caramel Apple Cider Bread

I got invited to lunch at a friend's house and wanted to bring something to share. This particular friend is of the gluten-free variety, so I wanted to make something delicious that she could enjoy.
I found a beer bread recipe that sounded phenomenal, and made it GF by subbing in Angry Orchard cider for beer and Namaste Food's GF Perfect Flour Blend for the regular flour.
This bread turned out delicious, and very very dense.

yield: 1 loaf of bread

ingredients
for caramel sauce
¾C sugar
2 tbs water
2 tbs butter, cut into cubes

for bread
3C all-purpose flour (I used Namaste Food's GF Perfect Flour Blend)
3 tbs sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼C sliced almonds
½ tsp cinnamon
1 large pink lady apple, cored and chopped into small pieces
12oz Angry Orchard Apple Cider
4 tbs butter, melted

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Grease a 1.5qt loaf pan.
3. In a small pot over high heat, add sugar, water, and butter.
4. Stir until the butter is melted.
5. Allow mixture to boil without stirring, for 5-6 minutes or until the sugar has turned an amber color.
6. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, cinnamon, and apple pieces.
7. Pour the beer and melted butter into the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined (you might have to use your hands because its a pretty thick dough).
8. Press dough into the loaf pan.
9. Pour caramel over the top of the loaf.
10. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet (this is just a precaution, I had a little bit of leak over and I didn't want to risk having to clean caramel off the bottom of the oven).
11. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
12. Enjoy!