Sense of Home Kitchen
Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake
~Sense of Home Kitchen, adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2007~
Serves 6 - 8
Caramel
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
Apples
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 or 5 large Golden Delicious apples (about 2 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each
Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping
Vanilla Ice Cream
For Caramel:
Butter a 12-inch, well-seasoned, cast iron skillet.
Combine sugar and water in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until color is deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a pastry brush dipped into water to dissolve the sugar crystallizing on the sides of the pan, about 8 minutes. Working quickly, pour the hot caramel into the prepared cast iron skillet. Set aside.
For Apples:
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add apple wedges and sauté until just tender. Arrange apple wedges in bottom of caramel-lined cast iron skillet.
For Cake:
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Cream butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl, add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Gradually stir in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating the two.
Spoon batter over apples in cast iron skillet, smoothing to cover.
Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes until the cake is a light golden around the edges and a tester comes out clean. Quickly run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and immediately invert the cake onto a plate. The caramel hardens quickly so this needs to be done as soon as it comes out of the oven. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
