Makes: 9-inch or 10-inch cake / Serves: 8-10                 Bake: 350° F for 45 minutes

Upside down cakes have been popular in the States ever since the advent of canned pineapple slices doled out sometime in the 1920’s.  Towards the 90’s, various fruits gradually found their place in the cake although none could match the popularity of pineapple upside down cakes.

This tastes like a cakey version of its French mom, Apple Tarte Tatin. Choose baking apples for this recipe: Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Pippin, Braeburn etc.  Eating apples like the omni-present Red Delicious would not stand up to the heat and eventually cook down to a chunky sauce.

I always prefer Fuji or Golden Delicious since they also double up as eating apples owing to their sweetness. They have the perfect balance of tart & sweet tastes unlike Granny Smith which is more tart than sweet.

For the topping:

1 pound apples (about 3 or 4), peeled, cored & sliced 1/3 inch thick
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup (2 oz.) softened unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Use a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or 9- by 2- inch cake pan.  Grease and flour the pan.

In a bowl, toss in sliced apples and lemon juice with the spices.

Smear the softened butter on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly throughout the pan. Arrange the apple slices on the pan in a pattern.  Pour the leftover juice in the bowl over the apples evenly. Set aside.

For the Apple Cake:

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ tsp table salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 oz (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk yogurt
2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup whole milk

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light, for a minute. Add yogurt and applesauce and beat on medium speed for 2 more minutes until fluffy.

Starting with half the flour, beat just until combined. Alternate beating with half the milk and continue with the rest of the flour and milk, beating for about 3 minutes, in total. Pour the batter over the prepared apples in the pan and spread the batter evenly with a spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, when inserted in the center of the cake. Cool the pan on the wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10-15 minutes.

Slide a thin spatula around the edge of the pan so the cake detaches easily from the sides. Carefully invert the pan onto a serving platter and give it a gentle shake. You could feel the pan emptying itself on the platter.  Let the cake cool down until warm to serve (sometimes, you don’t even need to shake the pan. If done right, it will almost always slide onto the platter).

Serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (which I skipped).