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Apple Upside-Down Cake

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I’ve always wanted to make a pineapple upside-down cake, but I just received Cook’s Illustrated Baking cookbook and found a good-looking Apple Upside-Down Cake instead. Cook’s Illustrated (which is under the same umbrella as America’s Test Kitchen) has a stringent creation and testing routine and every recipe I’ve tried from them has turned out terrific, including this one!

I made the cake exactly by the instructions, including room temperature eggs and whisking the cake by hand. The apples are two different sizes – cut in 1/2″ slices and 1/4″ slices – and half of them are sauteed to draw out some of the moisture so that the cake doesn’t get soggy. The result was a tender, delicious cake topped with caramelized sliced apples. The juices from the apples sank down into the cake a little and made it very moist. *Adoring Sigh*

Bret loved it warmed up and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I liked it both warm and room temperature. I’m so excited to have found this recipe! It will go into the make-again recipe file and be made often.

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Apple Upside-Down Cake
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
1 hrs 10 mins
 

****Outstanding tender cake topped with juicy, caramelized apple. 

Servings: 8 - 10 slices
Author: Cook's Illustrated Baking Book
Ingredients
  • Topping
  • 2 lbs Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 2/3 C light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • Cake
  • 1 C (5 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 C (5 1/4 oz) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 C (1 3/4 oz) light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions

  1. Grease a 9" round nonstick cake pan, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour entire pan.  Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 °.

  2. For the topping:  Halve apples from stem to blossom end.  Cut 2 apples into 1/4" thick slices; set aside.  Cut remaining 2 apples into 1/2" thick slices.  Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1/2" thick apple slices and cook, stirring 2 or 3 times, until apples begin to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes (do not fully cook apples).  Add 1/4" thick apple slices, brown sugar, and lemon juice and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and apples are coated, about 1 minute longer.  Transfer apple mixture to prepared pan and lightly press into even layer.  Set aside.

  3. For the cake:  Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.  Set aside.  Whisk granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs together in large bowl until thick and thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.  Slowly whisk in melted butter until combined.  Add sour cream and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.  Pour batter into pan and spread evenly over fruit.  Bake the cake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes (check at 35 minutes), rotating pan halfway through baking.

  4. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes.  Run thin knife around sides of cake to loosen.  Place wire rack over pan and, holding rack tightly, invert cake pan and wire rack together.  Lift off pan.  Place wire rack with cake over baking sheet or large plate to catch any drips.  If any fruit sticks to pan bottom, remove and reposition it on top of cake.  Let cake cool completely, about 20 minutes, then transfer to serving  platter and serve.

Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I used the weights for the ingredients that called for it because I have a really good little scale. The volume is a little different, but if you don't have a scale, it'll still work.

I used salted butter and decreased the salt by a pinch.

When you pick up the pan to put into the oven, remember the apple mixture is still very warm so use a pot holder or cloth to put the cake in.

Mine took the entire 45 minutes to bake.

Refrigerate leftovers if you have any.

Enjoy this wonderful cake!

Fruit Cocktail Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing

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My sister, Glenda, is a wonderful cook.  She’s one of those naturally talented cooks who can throw ingredients together, say “oh, that old thing?” and end up with a masterpiece in home cooking.  I, on the other hand, am cooking-challenged and have to labor and work diligently to make something special.  That’s why when I saw this recipe from Glenda in the family cookbook, I knew it was going to be good.  Fruit Cocktail Cake?  I don’t think I would’ve made it had it just popped up in Pinterest!
Fruit Cocktail Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing
The cake turned out really nicely, with a light spongy texture, and every once in awhile a bite of fruit would come through.  I think next time I would chop up a cup or so of pineapple and throw it in. That would take it to the next level.

The star of the cake, though, is that icing!  It’s so simple to make, but comes out so rich and caramel-y, and is perfect for the not-so-sweet cake.  It was hard not to lick up the remains from the icing pan.  Wonderful stuff.  As you can see, the cake didn’t take long to disappear.  I made the cake on Monday afternoon and this is the pan on Tuesday morning…
Fruit Cocktail Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing2
If you don’t prefer coconut (aka Bret), you can leave it out and you’d still have an outstanding icing.

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Fruit Cocktail Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing
**** From my sister, Glenda. Spongy soft barely sweet cake with a phenomenal coconut caramel icing.
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 (15-16 oz) can fruit cocktail (not drained)
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Icing:
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1/2 C butter
  • 1/2 C evaporated milk or cream
  • 1 (3 1/2 oz.) can flaked coconut (about 1 1/4 C. loosely packed)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 for at least 10 minutes. Beat eggs and sugar till lemon colored. Stir in the fruit cocktail, flour, soda, and salt and mix well. Spoon batter into a greased 9x13" pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. 
  2. Prepare the icing five minutes before the cake is done by combining the sugar, butter and milk in a medium pan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat and boil about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the coconut and mix well. Pour it evenly over the hot cake and let cool on a rack.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:
Remember not to drain the fruit cocktail – it needs that liquid in the batter.
I used evaporated milk.
Start checking the cake at 30 minutes by the clean-toothpick method. Mine was done between 30-35 minutes. It will be fairly brown on top.
Although not called for in the recipe, after the cake was baked I poked small holes so the icing would go down into the cake a bit.

Shoo-Fly Cake

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You’ve heard of Shoo-Fly Pie, right?  It’s a deeply sweet molasses-based pie with crumble topping and is wildly popular in the Pennsylvania Dutch area of the country.  No, it doesn’t have flies in it.  Since it’s such a sweet pie, back in the old days they had to shoo the flies away from it and I guess every other pie name had been taken; thus…Shoo-Fly Pie.

This is from Classic Home Desserts by the late James Beard award winner Richard Sax.  I previously made a Double Chocolate Pudding from his book and it was excellent, so I’ve been thumbing through and looking for another recipe.  It’s adapted from the pie recipe and is made into a cake instead!

Shoo-Fly Cake 4
It has simple ingredients and is a snap to make.  The result is a very tender cake with a sandy crumb topping.

Shoo-Fly Cake 2
I loved the deep molasses flavor in contrast to the crumbly topping, but thought it was a little better with a big dollop of whipped cream on top to cut the sweetness.  After the addition of the whipped cream, it was luscious and eye-rolling worthy.

Shoo-Fly Cake 3
I halved Mr. Sax’s original recipe since there are only two of us and it came out perfectly.  It was even better the second day and is excellent with coffee or a cold glass of milk.

If you’re looking for a quick, different, and deliciously-sweet cake, this is it!

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Shoo-Fly Cake
***1/2 - from Classic Home Desserts - Richard Sax.  Sweet, molasses-flavored tender cake.  Definitely serve with whipped cream.
Ingredients
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/6 C (1/2 lb.) light brown sugar
  • 1 stick butter cut into pieces and softened
  • 1 C boiling water
  • 1/2 C molasses
  • 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and lightly flour an 8x8" baking pan.  Set aside.
  2. In an electric mixer bowl on low speed, combine the flour, brown sugar and butter and work into fine crumbs (2 to 3 minutes).  Remove and reserve 1 cup of the crumbs for the topping.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the boiling water, molasses and baking soda; add to the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for several minutes until the batter is smooth and thin.  Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top.
  4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack.  Serve with whipped cream.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:   The original recipe was doubled and uses a 13x9" pan. When you add the baking soda to the water and molasses, it will foam up a bit - that's O.K.   Homemade whipped cream:  1 Cup whipping cream, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. sugar or other sweetener.  Whip with an electric mixer in a cold bowl until it's the consistency you want (5 minutes or so).  You don't want very sweet whipped cream with this cake since it's already so sweet! Next time I will add a teaspoon of cinnamon.  I think that will kick it up even another notch.

Kentucky Butter Cake

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Whenever I think of Kentucky, I think of big hats, horses and moonshine.  Oh, and the Kentucky Brown – a decadent sandwich with turkey, tomatoes, bacon, cheese and a little cream, broiled and served open-faced.  I’ve never had one, but they sound wonderful.  I’m putting that in my “to try” pile.  Definitely.

This Kentucky Butter Cake recipe adapted from AllRecipes is just as decadent as the Brown, but in a different way.  It’s loaded with butter and buttermilk and has a wonderful butter glaze poured over the warm cake.  Here’s a photo just after I poured the glaze on it.  I poked quite a few holes, as you can see, so the glaze would soak down into the cake.
Kentucky Butter Cake
I also made sure that the glaze puddled and ran down the outer edges of the cake.  That gave it a bit of a buttery sugar glaze on the outside, too.

The recipe said it was better after sitting and soaking in a day, but who can wait a day!  We did let it cool completely and I made a bit of homemade whipped cream to plop on top.  It was wonderful, although I liked it better without the whipped cream.  The cake is so delicious that it doesn’t need any toppings.  Notice the moist edges of the cake where the glaze settled in:
Kentucky Butter Cake2
I have to admit, it was better the second day, if that’s possible.  I cut up a few fresh strawberries and enjoyed it with a cup of coffee for an afternoon dessert.   It’s got a pound cake-ish texture, but that glaze gives the cake it’s own deliciousness.

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Kentucky Butter Cake
****delicious, buttery cake with a fantastic glaze!  Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
  • 1 C butter , cubed and at room temperature
  • 2 C sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 3 C all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • Glaze:
  • 1/3 C butter
  • 3/4 C granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp . vanilla
Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10" bundt pan well and set aside.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Blend until well combined. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Slowly add to the wet mixture and mix for 10 seconds.  Slowly pour the buttermilk in and mix for 2 minutes.
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 65 to 70 minutes until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place on a rack.
  4. While the cake is still warm, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and stir on medium-low heat until the butter is melted and sugar is mostly dissolved.  Do not boil the mixture.
  5. Poke holes in the cake with a butter knife and pour the glaze evenly over it while it's still in the pan.  Cool the cake completely and then invert it onto a cake plate.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff :

When poking the holes in the cake, make sure the knife goes almost all the way to the bottom of the cake so the glaze will soak down into it.

Watch the glaze that puddles in the middle - it might overflow and drip down the middle hole of the pan.

I also slightly pulled the cake away from the sides of the pan while pouring the glaze so it would drip down on the sides of the cake.

To remove the cake, carefully run a butter knife around the edges of the pan as well as around the middle hole of the pan to release.

Next time I will use maple flavoring in the glaze. I think that would take it to another wonderful level! 

Cinnamon Roll Cake

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I wish I could describe this cake to you so you can imagine the taste. It’s not a cake made from premade cinnamon rolls or homemade cinnamon rolls. It’s not a coffee cake, although it would be great (and will be tomorrow morning) with a cup of coffee. Bret said it reminded him of his favorite cinnamon rolls when warm right out of the oven.

Cinnamon Roll Cake
This cake is probably the most moist and rich cake I’ve ever had. The soft cake swirled with creamy, buttery cinnamon filling just melts in your mouth. I found that a 2×2″ piece was plenty since it’s so rich. You can see the layers of cake and filling here:

Cinnamon roll Cake2
I got this recipe from CrunchyCreamySweet.com and, besides extending the cooking time quite a bit, didn’t change anything else from the original recipe. It looked so good in the posted photo that I knew we would enjoy it.

Cinnamon roll Cake3
I would write more about this luscious cake, but after eating the photo piece, I need to take a nap. If you have company, a pot luck, or just want a marvelous cake, I definitely recommend this one. Oh, so gooooood……

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Cinnamon Roll Cake
*****Outstanding.  Be sure and cut small pieces - it's very rich (and delicious)!
Servings: 25 30
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 3 C. all-purpose flour sifted
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 C. granulated sugar
  • 4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 C. milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C. 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • Cinnamon Filling:
  • 1 C. 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 C. packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
  • Glaze:
  • 2 C. powdered sugar sifted
  • 5 tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Grease a 9x13" cake pan and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.  Add the milk, eggs and vanilla and  mix until smooth.  Slowly add the melted butter and mix until smooth. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
  3. For the filling, in a medium mixing bowl beat the butter until creamy.  Add the sugar, flour and cinnamon and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Spread the filling over the cake batter with about a 1/2" boarder.  Swirl the filling in gently with the back of a knife or rubber spatula.
  4. Bake the cake for 32-37 minutes or until the toothpick inserted to the very bottom of the cake part comes out clean.  Cool the cake for 15 minutes.
  5. To make the glaze:  mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla into a small bowl and stir until combined.  Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cooled cake.   Cut into small pieces when ready to serve.
Recipe Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I found that my oven took the full 37 minutes to bake the cake.  

When done, it gently pulled away from the side (which was great for the extra glaze to dribble down).

Trust me on the small pieces - with all that butter, you can expect it to be very rich.

I used 2% milk (like that made a difference in calories...!) because that's what I had.

Phenomenal cake.