Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

I haven't been terribly active on here as of late. I feel like I'm in a bit of photography slump, and I was also on a liquid diet and so I wasn't doing much cooking.

However, now I'm back into FOOOOOOOOOD and so I scoured my recipes for something new today. The decision: Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake, which I had cut out of a Canadian Living magazine. I have said it before on here: I love Canadian Living. Both the magazine and the act. :)

This was easy-peasy and the final verdict is pure deliciousness.

First you need four large apples. I used MacIntosh, because that's what I had on hand. I need to pause for a moment and say I was surprised that this recipe did not call for any of the spices I normally associate with apple dishes--cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. This intrigued me, and it made my husband happy as he does not share my all-encompassing love for nutmeg. Anyway, apples:




Peel, core, slice, and chuck in a pan with 1/4 cup butter. Cook and stir until tender-crisp. Mmmm, apples and butter. Sounds good already, right?

While that's happening, you can start the cake part. Half a cup of unsalted butter, softened, is beat together with 1/3 cup of white sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar.

Next comes two eggs, added one at a time, and a teaspoon of vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 t. baking soda, and 1 1/2 t. baking powder.

Almost forgot the caramel part! In a saucepan, bring 1/4 cup of water and 2/3 cup sugar to a boil. Boil, without stirring, until it's a dark amber colour.

NOTE.

The time it takes for it to go from dark amber to HOLY SMOKES IT'S BURNING is very, very short. Pay attention. I had to do this a second time because the first attempt resulted in burned caramel.

Back to the cake. Alternate adding the drys and 3/4 cup of milk to the cake batter, stirring or beating well afterward.

I have to say, I love cake batter. It's so appealing. It smells good, it tastes good (yes, I always taste it), and it just looks good.

When the caramel is done, stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and then pour it into the bottom of a 9" cake pan. I used a slightly larger springform pan. "Arrange" the apples on top (or, if you're me, dump them in there and make sure they're fairly uniform. I don't do fancy arrangements.).

Spoon the cake batter over the top.

Bake at 350 for...well, the recipe called for 40-45 minutes, but mine was a bigger pan, so it only took 1/2 an hour.

Let it rest in the pan for five minutes, then invert it on a plate. Let it rest again, then gently remove pan.

Verdict: yum. So good. The cake part is very simple and airy. The apple part is tart with a sweet, caramel-y syrup. We all had a piece, warm, and declared it goooood. This is major, since a) I don't particularly like most cakes, and b) my boys love cake but mainly adore it for the frosting. This has no frosting, and I still got thumbs-up and inhaled portions.

Try it. You'll like it.