#51 - Apple Cake Tatin

At Johnny's recently former company, the 2010 Christmas party was toned down from previous years and instead of going out to a restaurant, they had a potluck at Sonny's building's recreation room.

Two good things came out of that party. One was that Johnny won a Wii by winning the Wii bowling tournament (kind of a bizarre feedback loop on that one). And the other good thing was this recipe.

Apple Cake Tatin

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
Johnny's recently former coworker Maraea made this dessert for the potluck, and when we asked for the recipe, she told us that it was an Ina Garten plum cake recipe, and she swapped out the plums for the apples.

That sounds like something that should be done with all plum recipes, and if you'll notice, there are no plums in our ingredients.
A Tarte Tatin is a French recipe for an upside-down tart with caramelized fruit. Since we're using apples, the first steps are to cut the apples, make the caramel, and put them together.
The next thing that we do is make a cake batter. We'll be putting it on top now, but since it's an upside-down cake, that will be on the bottom when it's eating time.
This was a great dessert. The cake is moist, the apples sweet and delicious, and the whole thing extra light and tasty. We added a bit of vanilla ice cream on top and it was a great alternative to an apple pie.
Take off your shoes and socks, and make this.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 4 to 5 apples, peeled and slice
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• Confectioners' sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.
3. Combine 1 cup of the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat. Swirl the pan but don't stir, until the mixture becomes a warm amber color, about 360 degrees on a candy thermometer.
4. Pour caramel mixture evenly over the apples.
5. Cream the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy.
6. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time.
7. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla, and mix until combined.
8. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer set to low, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and mix until combined.
9. Pour the cake batter evenly over the apples and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool for 15 minutes, and then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If an apple sticks to the pie dish, you can take it off and place it back on the cake.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.