RECIPE
Apple Honey Upside Down Cake
A celebratory delight and the perfect Fall dessert.Apples paired with honey represent a symbolic food duo traditionally consumed during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year —The pairing is supposed to represent hope for sweetness in the new year. Chef Gracie Schatz of 18 Reasons, who has been celebrating Rosh Hashanah all her life, has just the recipe for you to try. We’ve stacked the cards in favor of this epically delicious apple cake —It’s loaded with buttermilk, brown butter, warm spices, and apples. You can’t go wrong with this Apple Honey Upside Down cake during any time of year, but it’s especially sweet during peak apple season!
[Editor’s Note: This recipe was created for Bi-Rite by Gracie Schatz.]
Ingredients
8 ounces unsalted butter
3 apples, sliced into ¼” thick half moon slices
Wet ingredients:
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 large apple, grated
For the caramel:
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
Dry ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F
Rub a 12” cast iron skillet generously with butter. Lay out the sliced apples in the bottom of the pan in whatever pattern tickles your fancy!
To make the caramel, place the granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a pan and heat over medium high heat until the sugar melts and starts to turn golden brown. Carefully pour the caramel over the sliced apples.
In a sauce pot, melt the butter and continue to cook until it browns and omits a sweet, hazelnut-like aroma. Transfer to a metal bowl to cool.
While your butter cools, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Once the butter has cooled, add in the buttermilk, eggs, brown sugar, and honey and mix well. Fold in the grated apple and grated ginger.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a soft spatula to combine them until you see no more visible clumps of flour.
Pour the batter into your prepared cast iron pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, until a tooth pick entered into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool for ten minutes and then use a butter knife to free the edges of the cake from the pan. Place a large circular plate over the pan and using oven mitts, moxie and courage, flip the cake upside down and top it with a generous drizzle of honey.
Serve with whipped cream or creme fraiche, and enjoy your Apple Honey Upside Down cake!
