Once the weather started turning just the tiniest bit crisp this Fall, the deluge of apple cake recipes began. In Magazines, cookbooks, blogs and food websites, apple cakes were everywhere. I was overwhelmed with possibilities for apple cake recipes. I knew I wanted to bake one, but how to choose a recipe? I bided my time and hoped for clarity.
Then I saw an apple cake in the New York Times and I knew that it was The One that I wanted to bake. The recipe is from Karen Bates, one of the daughters of the family that started The French Laundry restaurant (they sold it to Thomas Keller in 1994). She and her husband have operated an apple orchard for years and years. I figured that she probably knows a thing or two about apple cake! (You can read the story of the orchard here)
n.o.e.'s notes:
- The recipe for this cake is here.
- I baked 1/2 recipe in a small cast iron skillet that's approximately 7 inches in diameter. I didn't make any changes in the recipe - at all!
- The apples I used are my very favorite: Macoun.
- The batter tasted like a lovely intense gingerbread, and the most tantalizing aromas wafted out of the oven while this cake baked.
- Flipping upside-down cakes right side up is a fairly tricky business, especially when you try to use a decorative plate that is a good bit larger than the skillet with the cake in it. It wasn't the neatest job, but I got it inverted.
the verdict:
I love my gingerbread deep, dark, and spicy. This cake has an intense molasses/spice flavor that made it a total winner in our book. It would have ranked very high on the gingerbread perfection scale even without the apples, but oh, my!, the caramelized apples took the cake to even loftier heights. I am very very excited to add this cake to my repertory.
After I baked this cake, I learned that Deb Smitten, of the blog Smitten Kitchen, adapted this recipe to reduce the molasses flavor. So if you are not crazy for molasses, hop on over to her blog and try her version. Of course, for me the molasses is absolutely essential for a great ginger cake!
10 comments:
I like to make different kinds of cake. Thanks for this delicious recipe. So glad to have found this recipe post.
Oh Nancy this cake is a dream ! Not only it looks gorgeous but I'm sure it is almost too good !!
Knowing how chocolate and ginger go so well together... then apples and ginger, then chocolate and apples... well... this must be heaven!
What a nice change from just a plain upside down cake! Thanks for sharing!
Ginger and apples are a perfect marriage...in fact made in heaven.
Gorgeous! I haven't tried the macoun apple - I don't know if we get them here. I do love honeycrisps though..
Oh, this one was on my list last fall and I never got to it - I'm going to have to make it a top priority now, while the weather is still cool! I baked a different apple upside down cake and loved it, so I can't wait to see how this one compares. It looks spicy, rich and delicious! Beautiful pictures!
Mmm, sounds delicious! I haven't made any apple desserts in too long...
I say this every time you post a gingerbread recipe, but I'm nearly positive that you and I have the same taste in gingerbread. I like mine deep and spicy, too. This means that you're a perfect gingerbread recipe taster for me! The apple upside down cake looks fantastic. I'm going to bookmark this for next fall.
This looks so amazing!! I've never had apples with gingerbread but I'm very intrigued by the possibility. I have some apples in my fridge now so maybe this is where they'll end up.
Oh my, this looks and sounds absolutely stunning. My mouth is watering already! This cake will be coming soon to my kitchen :-)
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