My mother's skillet apple pound cake

For Christmas Santa left a magazine in my mother's stocking all about how to cook in an iron skillet. It bears noting my dad loves all things country-fried, but anyway. Recently my mom made a fruit pound cake in her iron skillet and then sent all of us kids the recipe. My mom made a few changes, then so did I & then I thought I'd share it here with you guys! It's easy & makes for a dramatic presentation. Thanks, mom!

Skillet Apple Pound Cake

1/2 cup (whole stick) unsalted butter at room temperature + 3 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For fruit:

1 - 1 1/2 apples, sliced thin (leave the skins on for a pop of color once cake is turned out)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat together butter & sugar, then add egg, milk and vanilla - beat until just mixed. Mix together flour and baking powder in small bowl until well combined then beat into wet mixture. You should have a fluffly + thick looking yellow batter.

Combine fruit, melted butter, cinnamon & brown sugar in another small bowl.

Pour 3 tablespoons melted butter to coat bottom & sides of skillet. Layer bottom of cast iron skillet with sliced apples. Spoon batter on top and gently smooth with spatula to cover apples. 

Bake at 375 degrees for appromixately 20-30 minutes (my oven needed about 20 since it's notoriously hot).

Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes and then loosen from sides with spatula. Turn, very carefully (you might want a second pair of hands for this part), onto a plate. If you've done it perfectly, your apples will make the top of the cake. If some of your apples stick, don't despair, just gently remove then from the pan with a spatula and press into the open spots on top of your cake. So long as your cake is still warm, it should all come together quite well :)

*Notes: I bumped up the amount of milk to make the batter more spreadable and I added the 3 tablespoons of melted butter for the bottom of the pan. To make your cake prettiest, fan your apples out into a design. Also: if you love a big cake-to-fruit ratio, I'd double the cake. If you like the fruit part better, double the fruit. And lastly, if you don't have apples, I think this could be equally amazing with berries or pears!

Comments

[Jen]

I may try this with some canned peaches I've been wanting to use. I'll let you know how it turns out. I think you should set up a Grape Did It Fail site though....because I have about as much luck making things that look like your pictures as I do making things that look like Pinterst pictures. (All me, not your fault!)

[Hope]

Ha Jen! I could populate that site w/ my own fails - believe me! That's why I included the bit about re-attaching the fruit if some comes off. You know what I think the secret to cooking is, though? Especially baking? Learning to make the best of mess ups. Another tip - cover any and all mistakes w/ whipped cream!