Cast Iron Skillet Apple Cake
Diced fresh apples in the batter and thick apple slices baked on top of the batter make this easy cast iron apple caramel cake moist and tender. Serve with a rich salted caramel sauce or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Servings: 8 Servings
Ingredients
For the Apples:
- ½ cup lemon juice in 2 cups of water
- 3 apples unpeeled, halved, cored and each half apple sliced into 6 slices, (12 per apple)
- 1 apple peeled cored, diced and tossed with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
Prepare the Apples:
- Mix the lemon juice and water together in a shallow dish.
- Cut 3 apples, unpeeled, in half and remove their core. Then cut each half apple into 6 slices, 12 thick slices per apple. Place into the dish of lemon water for 5 minutes to prevent discoloring.
- Transfer the lemon slices to a pad of paper towels and reserve.
- Peel the remaining apple, remove its core, dice and toss with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Set aside.
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 10-inch skillet with oil spray. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl and with the whisk attachment of the electric mixer, whisk for 1 minute. Stop the motor and add the sugar, oil, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Stop the mixer and with a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the batter in 3 portions. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Fold in the diced apples.
- Pour the batter into the skillet and smooth the top.
- Arrange the sliced apples on top of the batter. Brush melted butter on the exposed apple slices and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 48-53 minutes or until the cake is puffed, golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with salted caramel sauce.
Notes
- A tablespoon of powdered ascorbic acid desolved in the soaking water will also keep the apples from turning brown. A popular choice is Fruit Fresh, available in most supermarkets.
- Do not over-mix the batter, fold just until there are no flour streaks left.
- Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl when folding in the flour mixture.
- Ovens can vary in temperature, begin checking the cake for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester at 45 minutes.
- For a deeper, caramel-like flavor, use brown sugar instead of white sugar.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 593kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 27g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 449mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 37g
