Apple Skillet Cake
Apple Skillet Cake
(49)
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| quick-n-easy | |
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| Yield: | Yield: 10" cake, 8 to 10 servings. |
Ingredients
Apples
- 4 or 5 large tart green apples (such as Granny Smith), cored and sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds); about 18 ounces prepared, about 5 1/2 to 6 cups
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons boiled cider
- 1 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice, or your favorite combination of sweet spices
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cake
- 1 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup warm milk
- 1 large egg
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- coarse sparkling sugar to sprinkle on top, optional
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 ½" to 10" (2" deep) cast-iron skillet; or a 9" square cake pan.
2) Combine the apples with the brown sugar, boiled cider, spices, and salt. Set aside.
3) Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4) Mix the warm milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture, stirring to combine. Pour into the prepared skillet.
5) Spoon the apple mixture onto the batter. For the best appearance, make sure the apples are distributed a little more heavily towards the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with coarse sparkling sugar, if desired.
6) Bake the cake for about 50 to 60 minutes, till it's light brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
7) Remove from the oven, and cool for about 5 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan, and cool for another 20 minutes or so.
8) If you haven't sprinkled with coarse sparkling sugar, dust with confectioners' or glazing sugar, and serve with whipped or iced cream, right from the pan.
Yield: 10" cake, 8 to 10 servings.
Reviews
12/16/2011- Flavorful, moist cake, loaded with apples! (I might have used a cup more apples than called for because they were already cut and ready to go.)
09/18/2011- I love the idea of this cake however it did not have the texture of a cake and lacked enough spice to carry the apples. I followed the directions and baked in a cast iron skillet but I did use less apples (3 medium) and found they they did not cook completely but the cake was almost overdone. My slices were not too large; I used a standard apple corer which makes about 14 pieces from each apple. I may try again with some adaptions putting the apples on the bottom of the pan rather than dispersing into the batter...more like an upside-down cake.
- 04/02/2011
- I have made this recipe a few times, each time with the following addition... Before putting the batter in the skillet, I heat it on the stove top and melt about 3TBs of vermont cultured unsalted butter and then add about 1/4cup of muscovado sugar and mix together. After baking, this makes a really sweet, flavourful bottom to the cake, similar to a pineapple upside down cake has (not that I flip this upside down when done! LOL) Each time I did it, I tried different fruits - I never used granny smith apples - I don't like them for pies and cakes and they are too tart for my liking. The first time I made this, I used three varieties of apples that were available at the time - golden delicious, fuji and gala. Came out wonderfully and everyone loved it. The second time I Bosc pears and I liked it better than with Apples (but I always loved pears more than apples anyhow). The third time I mixed half fuji apples and half bosc pears and added some sultanas. The third time I used bosc pears with added blackcurrants and sultanas. Wonderful! I plan to try blackberries, raspberries, cranberries and so on and will try more varieties of pears and apples. It's a really easy recipe and very open to experimentation with different fruits.
02/28/2011- Followed recipe exactly - big disappointment. Tossed in garbage. Very gluteny/rubbery.
Our test kitchen helps avoid these disasters by extensive recipe testing before we publish them. We hate tossing food that you spend both time and ingredients on. We'd love to problem solve with you to determine what went wrong. Our bakers are here to help at 802-649-3717 (direct number for the Baker's Hotline) or through the Live Chat option on our website. Irene @ KAF
- 12/30/2010
- I was so disappointed when I made this cake. I followed the instructions precisely, but it didn't turn out ANYTHING like the picture. The picture is beautiful! I used GS apples & piled them on top, concentrating them more around the edges, as suggested. However, the cake didn't rise thru the apples, like the picture led me to believe would happen. When it was done baking, it looked exactly the same as it did when I put it in the oven, only the apples were really dry looking. The cake part tasted good, but we couldn't choke down the dry, wilted apples. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as it must have been something I did. I don't see anyone else saying they had the same experience. Thank you!
I am sorry to hear of your difficulty. It sounds like the apples may have been a little mealy and dry to start with. If the apples don't shine with juice after peeling and slicing, you might try adding more boiled cider or the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Frank @ KAF.
11/14/2010- My husband said this is like an apple pie with a cake crust. He said it is his favorite. I made it in a 9x9 pan. I felt the recipe was not sweet enough for our taste so I prepared a sugar syrup while the cake was baking and brushed it on the cake as soon as it came out of the oven. I fell it made a big difference because the apple slices seemed a bit dried-out. I will be making this cake on a regular basis
- 10/28/2010
- I made exactly as directed except that I had to make my own boiled cider. So I will make it again after purchasing the bottled, but I was disappointed in this. I've been baking, and baking a lot, for decades, so it wasn't an incompetence thing. And I love bready pastry cakes, apples, cakes baked in my skillet, everything about this - seemed to be perfect. It just missed something. It was a little drier than I thought it should be (I used Granny Smiths, and they were so juicy that I actually worried the cake would end up gooey). And while I put the apples more heavily around the edges, it wasn't quite as attractive as the pictures in the blog. It was ok, but it wasn't my typical great experience with KA recipes. Next time, in addition to the bottled boiled cider, I think I'll try using MacIntosh apples and see if that helps. Everyone who ate it liked it, but it wasn't an "oh, my gosh, we have to have this again" recipe or reaction. I will post another review if I make it again using the changes.
- 10/18/2010
- I made this exactly as directed using Granny Smith apples. I used my 10 inch cast iron skillet (which flares to almost 12 inches at the top rim), and I think it would be better in a smaller pan. The drawback with cast iron is it seems to yield a somewhat tough bottom and sides to cake batter. On the plus side it will keep your cake nice and warm for a long time. We just felt like it needed something like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I think if I make it again in my cast iron I'll double the recipe and put half of the apples on the bottom of the pan, then batter, then the other half of the apples. Maybe more butter and brown sugar in the bottom apple layer, too.
10/13/2010- This cake looked pretty, but was very dry and tasteless. At the suggestion of my sister, I turned it into bread pudding and it was delicious.
I am sorry you did not like the outcome but am glad you were able to improvise! Maybe the type of apples you used were not as juicy as others. That will make a big difference. Try a combination of apples next time. Granny, Macs, Gala, Honey Crisps. Elisabeth
- 10/11/2010
- I'm quite the novice baker. This turned out very well, and it disappeared quickly.