UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE WITH APPLE & CARAMEL
What you need:
For the caramel:
- 7 oz (200 g) sugar
For the apple filling:
- 8-10 apples or 2.5 lbs (1.2 kg)
- 2 oz (50 g) butter
For the dough:
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3.5 oz (100 g) sugar
- 3.5 oz (100 g) white flour
- Vanilla essence
Cooking pot (or baking mold) approx. 10 ” (26 cm) diameter
Cutting board, apple slicer (or knife), electric mixer, spatula, cake plate approx. 12 ” (30 cm) diameter, kitchen mittens, kitchen towel
How you do it:
Before you start
In this recipe, we don’t add cinnamon to the apple cake. We leave it with caramel, butter and vanilla flavors.
It is preferable to bake this cake in a simple cooking pot because a mold with removable bottom is not airtight and will let the apple juice and caramel drip into the oven.
If you choose to use the form with a removable bottom, melt the caramel sugar in another pot with a handle (easy to handle), then pour the caramel sugar into the baking mold and cover its bottom, twisting it carefully (using kitchen gloves) so as not to get burnt.
If you are using a simple cooking pot, follow the steps below.
A. Caramel for coating the pot
Put the pot with 7 oz (200 g) of sugar on the stove, on low heat (without water!) and stir continuously, taking care not to burn it. Stop when all the sugar has melted and turned a reddish color. Let it cool until the caramel sugar has hardened and started to crack.
B. Apple preparation
1. Wash the apples and wipe the water off. Cut the apples into slices using the apple slicer. You can also cut them manually with a knife, removing the spines and pits.
2. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles, in the pot coated with caramel sugar. Make two layers of apple slices. On top of the last layer, put thin slices of butter, you have cut while it was still cold from the refrigerator. Put the pot with apples in the preheated oven for 45 minutes at 350F (180C). The apples must be half-baked and softened before pouring the dough over them.
C. Sponge cake dough
1. Separate the whites from the yolks and mix the whites with a pinch of salt until you get a hard foam.
2. Add the sugar and vanilla essence and continue mixing until you get a hard and glossy foam.
3. Add the four egg yolks and mix for a few more seconds. Then no more mixers!
4. Add the flour in a fine drizzle and incorporate it slowly, using a spatula. The dough must remain airy and creamy.
5. Remove the pot with the half-baked apples from the oven and quickly pour the dough over them. Level gently with a spatula and put the pot back in the hot oven.
6. Bake the upside-down cake with apples and caramel for 30 minutes at 350F (180C). Do the toothpick test, to make sure the dough is cooked.
D. Flipping the cake
To flip the cake, you need some skills and attention. The cake must be flipped while it is still hot, otherwise the caramel will harden and “cement” it in the pot. Use towels or kitchen gloves. Cover the pot (or mold) with the plate and turn it over with a firm movement.
Lift the pot (or the mold) and admire the beauty! Feel the aroma of butter, vanilla and caramel!!
Tips for serving:
1. Serve it simply with vanilla sauce (homemade or from grocery).
2. Cover it with a generous whipped cream layer. You can add some decoration for different occasions (ex: for Christmas).
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