Caramel and Apple Upside-Down Cake

Upside-down cake without pineapples.

The first time I saw this recipe, I thought, "Eh" and kept flipping through my magazine. When I came across it again, I figured what the hell. I had just about everything to make it anyway, so I picked up some milk and gave it a spin.

Caramel and Apple Upside-Down Cake

CARAMEL & APPLES

3/4 c packed dark brown sugar

1/4 c unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp honey

1 lb. Fuji apples (2 to 3), peeled, sliced (1/4 inch)

CAKE

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c whole milk

Heat oven to 350°F.

Spray 9x2-inch round baking pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper.

Heat brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter and honey in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil.

Boil 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into pan.

Arrange apple slices over caramel mixture in 2 overlapping concentric circles to cover bottom of pan, starting on outside edge.

Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl.

Beat 3/4 cup butter and sugar in large bowl at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

At low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk* just until incorporated and smooth, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Carefully spread batter over apple slices.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is golden brown and pulls slightly away from sides and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Invert onto wire rack; remove parchment. Serve warm or at room temperature.


*After I made this, I realized I had completely forgotten to use the milk I'd bought! So the photo of the cake batter is really thick and pasty. The recipe later says to carefully spread the batter so at the time, I didn't think anything of it. The cake didn't taste bad because of it, though it was a little crunchy, sort of like cornbread. Rodney liked it enough anyway to eat about half the cake in the first sitting.

Pretty easy -- the hardest part was peeling the apples. That and preventing myself from getting burnt by the caramel. Total time from start to finish was about 1.5 hours.

Taste-wise, it was ok. Nothing to write home about, but maybe that's because I forgot the friggin' milk.

Cost was on the cheap side. The only thing I had to buy specifically to make this was milk, and that usually runs about $2.50 for a half-gallon.

Will I do it again? Yeah, probably. Maybe it'll be the greatest thing if I remember the milk.

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