Apples & Honey for a Sweet New Year
Apple Honey Upside-Down Cake
Recipe by Chef Scott Miller
Food styling and photography by Gina Iannitelli, courtesy of Market Hall Foods
Scott Miller, executive chef at Market Hall Foods, started making upside-down cakes as a way to use his backyard fruit harvest. But his recipe is especially welcome as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Holidays, approach. Scott’s version of the classic cake helps us celebrate the tradition of serving honey with apple slices to symbolize sweetness and offer good wishes for the upcoming new year.
Serves 8–10
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hours 25 minutes
For the sauce:
8 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the fruit:
3 Honeycrisp apples
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest, finely minced
1 1/2 tablespoons crystalized ginger, chopped super fine
For the batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
For the sauce, melt 4 tablespoons of butter with the brown sugar and honey in an 8-inch non-stick oven-proof pan or cast-iron skillet, stirring frequently over medium-high heat until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for 1 minute until the mixture looks bubbly and thick. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350°. While the oven is preheating, cut the apples into quarters and remove all seeds and core. Slice each quarter into 8 wedges. Arrange the apple wedges directly onto the butter/honey mixture, slightly overlapping each apple piece in a circular pattern starting from the center of the pan. Continue this pattern until the entire bottom of the pan is covered. Sprinkle lemon zest and ginger over top of fruit.
For the batter, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. Beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and white sugar together until fluffy. Add the vanilla and then the eggs (one at a time), beating until smooth. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk, then the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated and do not overmix.
Spread the batter evenly over the fruit in the skillet and bake on bottom rack of oven for 20 minutes. Rotate pan and continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until center of cake feels set. Remove from oven and let cake cool for 20 minutes in the pan. Carefully flip onto a plate and let it rest another 5 to 10 minutes. The cake is best served warm. Serve with mascarpone or whipped cream.