Apple Spice Cake baked in cast iron
a lightly sweetened spicy cast iron “cake’’ that you can make as fancy or as straight forward as you want
Equipment
- cast iron pan
- electric mixer
- stand mixer
Ingredients
for the apples
- 3 medium apples
- 1 tsp ground cardamom you can sub cinnamon if you prefer
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- lemon juice
for the batter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- 1 stick room temperature unsalted butter 1/4 cup or 8 Tablespoons
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsps orange liquer optional
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour You can use AP if you prefer
- 1 t 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt or 3/4 tsp diamond kosher
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- peel the apples, slice and macerate by tossing with the granulated sugar, cardamom, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and lemon juice in a large bowl- set aside
- pre heat oven to 350F
- in a stand mixer with the beater attachment cream together butter, sugar, and molasses until fluffier and lighter, add eggs, vanilla, and orange liqueur and beat again until throughly combined (about two minutes, you may need to pause and scrape down the bowl once or twice)
- remove from mixer and add the dry ingredients, stirring or folding gently to combine until no dry bits remain.
- butter your (well seasoned 10 1/2 inch cast iron) pan and spread in the batter
- layer in the apples (you can discard the left over juice or reserve for something else like apple sauce) pressing down if necessary to help spread the batter- I had some broken leftover broken bits that I added to the apple sauce I’d made the day before. )
- sprinkle the apples with a little bit of sugar or cinnamon sugar if desired and bake until the batter is cooked through and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan (you can also do the toothpick test) about 40-45 minutes
- best served warm- on its own or with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a generous dollop of whipped cream
