APPLE UPSIDE- DOWN CAKE

APPLE UPSIDE- DOWN CAKE

Close-up

About once a week, I try a new recipe. Sometimes I create one of my own by experimentation and other times I try one I find online or in one of my hundreds of cookbooks. My recipes don’t always turn out but every once in awhile I find a “keeper.” Apple Upside-Down Cake is just such a recipe. I found it on the King Arthur Flour website.

Wonder What Happened To The Rest Of The Cake?

A few years back, the King Arthur crew came to Roanoke and taught a bread making session. My daughter Kirsten and I were able to attend. We were quite impressed.

What I like about this cake is that it uses only one cake pan and the finished product looks like you have been slaving in the kitchen for hours. It is very impressive looking. Unfortunately, my friend Leslie and I had already dived into it before I remembered to take a picture, which is the reason you see the half cake. Another good thing about the cake is that the sauce can be heated and served over the cake at any time, making it seem as if it just came out of the oven. Perfect for a Thanksgiving gathering.

King Arthur’s site featuring the cake is : http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/apple-upside-down-cake-recipe

I’ve copied it below as well with a few minor revisions I made.

APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Topping

2 medium apples

•

4 tablespoons butter

•

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

•

2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate-I used the apple concentrade.

•

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

•

1/2 cup light corn syrup

Cake

•

3/4 cup vegetable oil-I didn’t have any so used Olive oil-expecting the worse and got really good results. I’ll try the vegetable oil next time.

•

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

•

2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate

•

2 large eggs

•

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

•

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

•

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

•

1/2 teaspoon salt

•

1 teaspoon baking soda

•

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

•

1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped

•

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan at least 2" deep. Line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment.

2) Slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into 1/4" thick wedges.

3) Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.(Be sure the apple is sliced to lay flat with the top of pan)

4) Prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

5) Pour 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.

6) To make the cake: Beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed

7) Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.

8) Add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.

9) Drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.

10) Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.

11) Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.

12) Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.

13) Reheat the reserved topping. If butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.

14) Pour the sauce over the cake. Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired. I used ice cream..delicious!

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.