Deep Dish Upside Down Salted Caramel Apple Pancake recipe from Jenna Rae Cakes At Home

This recipe is excerpted from Jenna Rae Cakes At Home, Copyright ©  2024 by Ashley Nicole Kosowan and Jenna Rae Hutchinson. Photography by Ashley Kosowan. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Limited. Reproduced with special arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Baking notes: Served warm from the oven, this fluffy deep dish pancake swimming in caramel apple gooeyness is irresistible. When our bakers were testing this recipe, they topped their pancakes with salted caramel ice cream too! One of our bakers even said she’d bake this as a stand-alone dessert. Don’t be shy about serving pancakes afterdinner!

Recipe

Makes one 8-inch pancake; serves 6 to 8

Caramelized Apple Base Ingredients

¼ cup unsalted butter

8 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices

1½ cups packed brown sugar

½ cup whipping (35%) cream

½ teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Deep Dish Pancake Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1¼ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup whole (3.25%) milk 3 tablespoons full-fat sour

cream or Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 egg

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup icing sugar, for garnish

Method

Caramelized Apple Base

1.Place the butter in an 8-inch round cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the apples, stirring occasionally until al dente.

2.Add the brown sugar, whipping cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Add the vanilla and continue to cook for

1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove the skillet from the heat. Use an offset spatula to spread the apples in an even layer.

Deep Dish Pancake

3.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the sides of the cast iron skillet with cooking oil. It’s okay if some of the oil mixes with the Caramelized Apple Base.

4.In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.

5.In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, oil, egg, and vanilla.

6.Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix. It’s okay if the batter looks lumpy.

7.Gently pour the batter evenly into the prepared cast iron skillet overtop the apples, trying not to disrupt the apples. You can pour the batter over the back of a spoon so the stream of liquid isn’t as forceful. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the pancake comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan.

8.Run a knife or an offset spatula around the inside edge of the pan to release the edges of the pancake. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the pancake with icing sugar, to taste. Cut into slices. To serve, flip each slice so the apples appear on top. Serve immediately.