Upside Down Apple Caramel Cake

I have been searching for recipes that will make delicious use of our apples that we scored during our  weekend at the farm. All I have to say is this: there are a lot of recipes for apples.

and yet... nothing was exactly what I was looking for.  I love apple crumble and apple pie but what I really wanted was something cakey and moist without crossing over to muffin-ness or pound cake.

I was content to browse epicurious and food blogs  pretty much forever without ever making up my mind. Sometime choosing what I am going to bake and debating between different versions of recipes is just as appealing to me as  getting down to business and actually baking it.

My search was ended abruptly when my boyfriend and I had what I can only call a dessert emergency. We had eaten dinner and we wanted dessert. We didn't even require a proper dessert, just something sweet. There was nothing in our cupboards, nothing in the fridge, and no ice cream hiding in the freezer.

However, we did have a ton of flour, unsalted butter, different sugars, and - of course - a huge bowl of apples.

 

And thus this cake was thrown together in a state of dessert desperation.

The result? A dense moist cake that almost has the texture of a sticky toffee pudding topped with apples baked in a delicious caramel.

 

The cake is simple to make. First you make the batter with sugar, butter, eggs, greek yogurt (or sour cream), flour, sugar, spices, and a bit of grated apple.

Then you set that aside and heat a 1/2 cup of brown sugar on medium heat in a skillet that you can stick in the oven. Once the sugar has melted and is starting, juuuust starting to bubble you pour in a 1/2 cup of whipping cream that has a tsp of vanilla and a pinch of salt in it.

The sugar will bubble angrily. Some large clumps of sugar will harden instead of making itself into a caramel sauce. Don't worry!! stir the caramel over a low heat until the smaller chunks of sugar disappear, just toss the larger ones. I promise it will still taste great.

Throw apple slice in the caramel, then dollop the cake batter on top of it all and carefully spread it out to the edges.

After about 30- 35 minutes the cake will be ready. Let it sit for five- ten minutes and then place a large plate over the skillet and invert the cake onto it.

I wish I had a picture of the whole cake, but it was dark and like I said before it was a dessert emergency. No time to take photographs!!!

 

There was only time to drizzle some of the left over whipping cream on top before devouring a good portion of the cake while it was still warm.

 

Cake Batter

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt - if you do not have greek yogurt then use sour cream. Regular yogurt is a bit too runny for this cake
• One apple grated

Preheat oven to 375

1. whisk together the flour, salt, and spices

2. In a separate mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one by one

3. mix in vanilla

4. Mix in flour mixture until just combine

5. stir in greek yogurt or sour cream.

set aside until the caramel apples are read

Caramel Apple Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2-3 apples peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1. put the salt and the vanilla in the whipping cream. Set by the stove, you'll want it near by

2. Over medium heat melt the brown sugar without stirring

3. Once the brown sugar is melted and has just started to bubble give it a stir and then stir while you pour the whipping cream in

4. The mixture will bubble! Stir to melt any smaller pieces of hard sugar, discard any large pieces that aren't going to melt

5. add apples to the sauce pan

6. Spoon the cake batter over the caramel topping then carefully spread the batter to the edge of the skillet

7. Stick skillet in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The cake will be very moist, serve warm with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream

Comments

[Kwanster.wordpress.com]

that looks absolutely delicious!!! I have been wanting to make upside down cake for ages, but always got distracted and made something else! but your gorgeous looking cake and the 'texture of a sticky toffee pudding' just reinforce me that i HAVE TO make a upside down cake this week! (or maybe next week... lol) thanks for sharing!

[Mylifeunderthebus]

Oh lordy it has a Tres Leches look to it - YUM !!!....can't we just eat it out of the pan ???

[hocus]

Mmmm, this looks to be autumn dessert perfection! And to think you just whipped this up out of thin air. Brilliant, you are :)

[Madeleine]

Sounds divine :O)