Salted Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

What does December mean to you? For me, December is warmth.  The waft of cinnamon travelling around the house like the ghost of Christmas. And what better than a cake, so good that it will make you feel alive?
Food itself is happiness. But food that hits your soul is the dream. Try out my version of the rustic classic, Apple Upside Down Cake and let your soul shimmy with joy.

Ingredients

For Cake

·         1 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour

·         ½  Cup Salted Butter

·         ½ Cup Powdered Sugar

·         2 Eggs

·         ½ tsp Soda Bicarb

·         1 Tbsp Cinnamon

·         1 tsp Baking Powder

·         ½ Cup Milk

·         1 tsp Almond essence

For Apples with Salted Caramel

·         1 Cup Sugar

·         100gms Salted Butter cut into cubes

·         ½ Cup Cream

·         1 tsp Salt

·         2 Apples :  Peeled ,cored and sliced into thin wedges ( Soak in lime water as to not let it oxidize)

·         1 Tbsp Whiskey (optional)

Tip: Measure out all the ingredients before really starting anything. Saves a lot of time and  minimizes confusion later on.

Steps:

Salted Caramel:

1)      Heat all the sugar in the saucepan and stir continuously. The sugar will slowly form clumps and will eventually melt into an amber coloured liquid. Make sure it doesn’t burn.

2)      Once all the sugar melts completely, carefully add in the butter and keep stirring to emulsify, for around 2-3 mins.

Note: Be careful while adding the butter. It will start to bubble vigorously and will tend to splatter.

3)      Then slowly add the cream into the caramel and stir. Let it boil for a minute.

Note: Again, since the cream is cooler than the caramel, it will bubble and splatter. Be careful.

4)      Add the salt and stir. Remove from heat and add in the whiskey and stir again.

5)      In a baking tin, arrange the apples in whichever design you prefer and pour over half the caramel onto the apples.

Note: Clean and line the baking tin with butter and flour before starting the entire caramel making process.

6)      Let the remaining caramel left in the pan cool down and then it can be transferred into a clean jar. Refrigerate for future use.

Cake:
 To make the cake batter, you can either mix the ingredients in a bowl by hand or if you are lazy   like me, use a food processor.

1)      Preheat oven to 180˚ C

2)      Cream together the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time.

3)      Add the essence. Mix well.

4)      Add in the milk and mix well.

5)      In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, soda bicarb, cinnamon and then mix all these dry ingredients together.

6)      Add in the dry mixture part by part to the wet mixture.

Note: Do not over mix. The cake will become dense otherwise.

7)      Spoon the batter over the apple- caramel in the baking tin.

8)      Smoothen the batter over the top, but make sure not to displace any apples.

9)      Bake in oven for 45 mins.

          Note: To test the done-ness ( I know it's not a word, but eh) of a cake, insert a wooden toothpick or skewer into the centre of the cake and when removed it should come out clean as a whistle.

10)   Once out of the oven, let it cool down completely. Run a knife round the edges of the baking tin and flip over. Voila!

Apple Upside Down Cake

 

 

 

 

Do try and let us know how it goes! Ciao!