- 8
- 25 mins
- 50 mins
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 1-3/4 stick Butter
- 3/4 cups Sugar
- 4 whole To 5 Whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled, Cored, And Cut Into Six Equal Pieces
- 1 stick Butter
- 2/3 cups Sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 whole Large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 whole Small Granny Smith Apple, Peeled, Cored, And Chopped Finely
Preparation
Step 1
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I found this recipe in the depths of a closet last night, and it was like finding a buried box of sparkly, flawless diamonds. Only better. The recipe, which I’d adapted from a cake I’d watched Sara Moulton make back in the late 90’s, had been scribbled on a piece of wide-ruled notebook paper, and I’d been searching for it since I moved into this house years ago. I’d loved the cake so much, it had immediately been put into my vault of “Keeper Recipes”. It was so, so good.
” I squealed, quickly flipping through the expired refrigerator warranty and random grocery receipts until I finally found it—that blessed, butter-soaked piece of wide-ruled notebook paper onto which I’d scrawled all the steps I’d taken to make what was one of the best cakes, to this day, I’ve ever eaten. A glorious light shone from the sky onto the paper. And I was whole again.
Melt 1 3/4 sticks of butter over low heat in a heavy skillet. Iron is the best, but stainless or hard anodized will work, as long as they’re ovenproof.
And I use low heat because I don’t trust myself.
Pour the sugar into the pan.
Stir it around to evenly distribute…
Now, just leave this cooking over medium low heat. You don’t want the sugar to burn, but you do want it to start getting golden brown. And that’ll take a little while.
Meantime, make the batter:
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Stir it all together and set it aside.
Now, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat it together until light and fluffy.
Then add vanilla. Vanilla makes everything taste better.
Now hear this: If you do not put vanilla in your pancake batter, you might as well not make pancakes.
Now beat it all together again until totally combined.
The reason my batter looks lumpy is that my butter was actually cold when I threw it in the mixing bowl; the lumps are actually cold little bits of butter. It couldn’t be helped, though—I had to get ‘er done while it was still daylight.
After you mix in the sour cream, add the flour mixture gradually until it’s all combined.
By now the apples have been cooking for about fifteen minutes, and the sugar/butter mixture had gotten a little bit of color. And the apples are fork tender, so tender that it will be an exercise in discipline not to forgo the whole cake nonsense and just eat this right out of the skillet. The only thing that will save you from doing this is that they’re too hot to eat right out of the skillet, and in the time it would take the apples to cool enough for you to eat them, you’d come to your senses and return them to the pan. And all that drama would be for naught.
We need to invert the cake, so grab a frilly milkglass cake pedestal like this one and place it face down on the pan.
Note: For winners of yesterday’s KitchenAid mixer giveaway, read previous post.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a 9 to 10-inch skillet, melt 1 3/4 sticks butter over low heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, cut side down, in the pan. Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave overly large gaps. Allow this to cook over low/medium-low heat while you make the cake batter.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1 stick of butter and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Add sour cream and mix well.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir together then gradually add flour mixture into the creamed mixture until just combined. Gently stir in 1 chopped apple.
Remove skillet from heat. Spoon batter over the top, then spread gently so batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and bubbly. Allow cake to sit in skillet for five minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Don’t worry if some of the topping isn’t perfect---it’ll taste perfect!
Can’t wait to make this one. Makes me want more cast iron too!
I am going to make this as soon as my favorite apple is available – Jonathons! I too lost a favorite recipe that my mother gave me for making fried mush. I tried many internet searches and variations and they never came close. This summer when getting ready for a “huge” yard sale I found the recipe in an old salt box on my back porch. Hooray! I am back in business for the cooler months ahead when the kids come to visit and I can finally make the mush of their childhood.
Can’t wait to make this…… It is like the introduction to the fall season….
This I cannot wait to make. Thanks!!
I’m going to make this this weekend!
Oh, my, this might take over your apple pie for being the thing I’m going to make with the first batch of apples of the season! It really looks yummy.
beth aka confusedhomemaker
I’ve made something similar before to this, so good. And a cast iron skillet and pan set is something EVERY home should have. The beauty of cooking in cast iron makes my heart sing.
I will freely admit that as I was reading this I was thinking “If I win the mixer this will be the first recipe I make with it.” With 28,000+ entries it’s not surprising I didn’t win, but I can still make the recipe, right? With three cast iron frying pans (the dutch oven is probably too deep) I’m ready. I’m even starting to get some apples (variety unknown) from my tree, and I’ll bet they’d be great in this.
boy that sounds so good you can almost taste it YUMMY ant wait to go shopping tomorrow and get the stuff to make it this weekend
Looks delicious. Can I ask why your fingers are stained red. I’ve noticed this before in other recipe posts. Did you make several recipes on that day, say red velvet cake or dyed fondant????
You could also prepare a caramel, spread it into a round baking pan, place the apples and the dough and just bake it. It would go faster. But you would miss the whole “my kitchen smells of baked apples” kind of thing…
Ugh…You make me so hungry! But, this is something I think I can make in Lithuania. If someone will actually let me use the kitchen
Heather
Oh my goodness, that looks so good! It’s definitely going into my need-to-make pile for sure!
I’m SO glad I found this before I go to the grocery store today. Can’t wait to make it tonight for the hubby!
Oh, this looks so good – and I was looking for a good apple cake recipe! I think I may have to make this over the weekend for our big family dinner. Yum!
That looks so good I am going to make it right now!!!
could u please make one for me
Yummy! Can’t wait to make this!
http://www.whatmegmakes.com
…Thanks Ree for the satisfied tummy, the added weight, the clogged arteries, the jiggly thighs, the love handles and this recipe! ;o)
This looks amazing!! I am definitely going to make this. It is kind of like a Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I make in the skillet (using Bisquik!). Thanks for the recipe!!
I cannot wait to make this! yum!!!
Gosh, this sounds so good! I am going to make this for sure. Reminds me of pineapple upside down cake. Thanks Ree for another great recipe!
Adding to “to-cook” list as we speak…
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