1-Pan Up-side Down Apple Cake

This is a wonderfully easy and less messy cake version of tarte-tatin.
You don't even need a cake baking tin.  
You only need one bowl to mix the batter and one stainless-steel sauce pan to make caramel and bake the cake.
There's less washing up afterwards. 
If you have baked tarte-tatin, you know how annoying it can be to clean the pan which is used for making caramel. Hardened caramel stuck to the bottom of the pan is really difficult to clean.
However, I have noticed that the caramel which is baked in the cake tin doesn't stick as much as caramel made in the pan.
So, here is the solution. Make caramel in the pan, place the apple on top of the caramel in the pan. Then pour in the cake mix and bake. 
As a result, as the pan bakes the cake, there is no need to use a cake tin. AND, not surprisingly, the caramel in the bottom of the pan melts in the apple cake, and is SO easy to clean afterword. 
Ha! Isn't it a clever idea?
Ah, I've just got another idea. I could sprinkle sea salt on top of the caramel before laying sliced apples. "Salted Caramel Upside-Down Apple Cake"...... sounds even more interesting??? 

Ingredients 

• 6 oz self-raising flour 

• 6 oz caster sugar 

• 6 oz low-fat margarine  (or butter if you like)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

• 2 apples sliced

• Caramel: 3 oz caster sugar + 3 tablespoons water  

Method

1. Place the granulated sugar and 3 Tbsp water into a stainless steel pan.
2. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and there are no granules.
3. Remove the spoon and increase the heat. (Do NOT stir! Just watch!)
4. Boil until a golden straw colour. Then immediately put the bottom of the hot pan in a bowl of water. This stops cooking the caramel further. Leave it to cool at room temperature. (you could sprinkle some sea salt on the caramel to give it a "salted caramel" effect.)
5. Slice the apples and place them on top of the caramel layer in the bottom of the pan.
6. Put all the ingredients of the cake mixture in the bowl and mix with an electric hand-mixer.
7. Pour the mixture into the pan over the apple.
8. Bake in a preheated (180 C) oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
9. When the cake is baked, leave it for a few minutes then turn it upside-down onto a plate. 

Here is the "pear version"

Apple tart tatin with rough puff pastry

I have been baking a lot of upside-down cakes recently with some burnt caramel.... it's a bit tricky to make  caramel "just right." The difference in cooking time between undone caramel and burnt caramel is literally seconds. Anyway, here is another attempt to make caramel. This time, I made tart tatin with rough puff pastry. The caramel turned out almost right. :)

I found Mary Berry's technique, which grates butter and lard with a cheese grater very useful. Both butter and lard should be ice cold to do a good grating job in order not to melt the fat. I put the butter and lard in the freezer for a while before using it. I followed Mary's apple tart tatin recipe for this.

Just came out of the oven                           Upside-down... hurray

Baked as a dessert for the dinner party 16.11.2012

Success. :) 

Apple "Cake" Tatin

Good old British Cox apples are now in season. I love the sweet but slightly tangy flavour of Cox apples. They are great just as they are and fantastic for cooking. So, to celebrate British Cox,
I wanted to bake "Tart Tatin"... Well...it's not a tart, it's a cake. So, it's upside-down apple caramel cake. :) Enjoy the fresh flavour of apple and sticky caramel.

Ingredients 

• 4 oz plain flour 
• 4 oz soft brown sugar 
• 4 oz low-fat margarine  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 Vanila extract 
• 2 apples sliced
• Caramel: 85g Caster sugar + 1 tablespoon water  

Method

Making Caramel sauce 

•  Warm the pan gently over a medium heat for a few moments then place white caster sugar in the pan, still over a medium heat. Leave the sugar and keep an eye on it, until it begins to melt. After about 5 minutes the sugar will start to melt and turn liquid around the edges.  Do not stir!
•  Give the pan a good shake and leave it again until about a quarter of the sugar has melted. Using a wooden spoon, give it a gentle stir and continue to cook until the sugar has transformed from crystals to liquid and is the colour of dark runny honey – a dark amber colour.
•  Take the pan off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of tap-hot water – the caramel will splutter and steam so protect your hands with a cloth and take care. Stir well – you may need to return the pan to a gentle heat to re-melt any lumps of caramel that have formed. The caramel is now ready to use.

1. Preheat oven to 170 °C.  Place greaseproof paper in the cake tin.
2. Put all the ingredients, apart from apples and sugar for caramel, in a bowl and mix with the electric whisk.
3. Make caramel sauce ( see above for the method)  
4. Pour the caramel sauce into the cake tin.
5. Place the sliced apples and then pour the cake mixture on top.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes. When the cake cools down turn the cake tin upside down and gently peel away the greaseproof paper.