Apple Bourbon Upside Down Cake

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Well, this letter U recipe was originally going to be a post for a type of modak, and I did make and personally love the filling, but ended up waiting too long to finish them up!  Whoopsie doodles.  So I defaulted to an upside down cake, which I haven't made in ages!  I actually found this cookbook, Hazelnuts & More, at the university bookstore when I attended OSU, some three decades ago.  I was so pleased to find out that it was an autographed copy once I got back to my dorm!  My youngest and I really love hazelnuts, so this was a great book to dig back out and dust off.  It's one of those that I won't give away even if I don't use it that often.


This cake is a great cast iron skillet recipe, fitting perfectly in my 10" Field skillet (No. 8).  It is reminiscent of an apple tart tatin in cake form.  Using tart apples like Granny Smith gives it a nice zing of acidity to complement the buttery topping and sweet cake, but you could certainly use a slightly sweeter apple to taste.  The caramelized edges with the hazelnuts were my favorite part!

Apple Bourbon Upside Down Cake
6-8 servings

Apple-bourbon topping:
6 tbsp butter, divided (original calls for unsalted)
2 medium, tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced in thin rings
½ cup light brown muscovado sugar
1 tsp water
2 tbsp bourbon
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup medium chopped toasted hazelnuts

Cake batter:
1½ cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a 10 inch ovenproof skillet.  Saute half of the apple rings for a few minutes until they just start to color.  Carefully transfer for a large plate.  Repeat with another tbsp of the butter and the remaining apple slices.  (The apples may be halved and sliced in half circles if you do not have an apple corer.)

Melt the remaining 4 tbsp butter in the skillet and mix in the brown sugar and water.  Cook over medium high heat for about a minute, until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the bourbon and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Arrange the sauteed apple slices in the sauce, overlapping each slice, in a ring about one inch from the edge of the pan.  Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon.  Spoon the toasted hazelnuts in the center of the ring, and around the edges of the pan.  Set aside.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350ºF with the rack in the center.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl or mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated.  Alternately add the dry ingredient mixture and the buttermilk, beating until smooth, about one minute.  Stir in the vanilla.

Pour the batter evenly over the topping in the skillet and spread smooth with an offset spatula or knife.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until golden on top and the cake tests done.  (A wooden pick poked in the center should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes.  Loosen the edges with a knife and carefully invert the pan onto a serving plate.  Let it sit for a minute or so with the pan in place, to ensure that all the topping has released.

Serve warm, with whipped cream.  Flavor the cream with a little bourbon and sugar if desired. 

Here are some more letter U recipes:

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