Sticky Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
This cake can best be described as a sticky toffee pudding meets vanilla birthday cake meets apple pie meets a pancake with apples on top. It’s a soft cake without much texture (you bake it until the apples fall apart and become jammy), which is usually something I’m against but here, I’m actively seeking that custardy, soaked cake energy. (from Alison Norman)
Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
Non-stick spray (optional)
⅔ cup light brown sugar, divided – plus walnuts
2 large, unpeeled apples, cored and sliced (not too thin- you want some texture here)
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon BP
½ teaspoon bicarb
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
8”–9” cake pan (springform or regular) or pie plate, 1.5qt/8 inch square baking dish
Whisk
Plate and clean Tea-towel – ready for turning cake
1. Preheat oven to 160°C FF. Melt butter in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring or whisking occasionally until the butter starts to brown and foam – 2 to 3 mins, smelling like toasted nuts and caramel colour. Add vanilla bean if you’re using it and remove the pot from heat to cool.
2. Grease cake pan. If you are less confident in your upside-down cake flipping skills, line the cake pan with parchment (leaving some hanging out of the pan for easy lifting after).
3. Scatter half the brown sugar walnuts on the bottom of cake pan. Top with apples; set aside.
4. Whisk flour,BP, bicarb, cinnamon, salt and remaining brown sugar together in a medium bowl.
5. Whisk eggs & buttermilk together in a small bowl or the measuring cup. Add vanilla extract, if using. Add buttermilk mixture to the drys, mixing just to blend. (Don’t overmix or tough cake)
6. Remove vanilla bean if it’s in the butter. Whisk in the vanilla-y browned butter until the batter is smooth and streak-free. (Again, don’t overmix it, just until everything is well blended.).
7. Pour batter over the apples, smooth the top (although the batter is pretty viscous, almost like pancake batter & should smooth itself). Bake until golden brown & pulls away from sides of pan, and springs back lightly when pressed in the centre: 25–30 minutes.
8. Almost immediately, place a plate on top of the cake pan. With a towel under the pan, flip it over (this isn’t as scary as you think it might be, I swear) and remove. Alternatively, if you’ve got parchment under it, lift the cake up and out of the pan and flip it onto a plate. Serve with cream?