This upside-down candy apple pancake is the perfect fall breakfast. It is essentially a German apple pancake – a custardy batter poured over fresh apples – with a super sticky-sweet candy caramel topping.
The inspiration for this upside-down candy apple pancake comes from the autumn weekend breakfasts of my childhood, when my dad would make us pancakes topped with sweet caramelized apples cooked on the woodstove in the cozy fire-scented kitchen of our house upstate. But it’s also the perfect recipe for fall because… it’s apple picking season! I went apple picking with my brother, sister in law and niece Scarlet this past Sunday, after a fall-filled weekend at my dad’s house (see the photos below for our fall adventures). That means that now is the time for me to pull out any and every one of my apple recipes. This recipe is a new one, a slight spin on the apple breakfasts of my childhood. The batter for this pancake is simultaneously airy and custardy, and best of all it’s chock-full of apples and topped with the ultimate sticky-sweet fall-spiced caramel.
WHAT IS A CANDY APPLE PANCAKE?
This upside-down candy apple pancake essentially uses the same batter recipe as a German pancake. A German pancake, also called a Dutch baby, is a baked pancake made using a very eggy dough – like one used to make popovers – which gives the pancake a quintessential extreme rise. Apples are the traditional accompaniment with these pancakes, sometimes used as a topping and sometimes incorporated straight into the batter. My candy apple pancake does the latter, giving you a crisp bite of apple in every mouthful. The addition of apples in the batter means the pancake doesn’t get quite as much rise as it could, but for this recipe that’s ok. It comes out slightly dense, like a very moist apple cake, with a rich and custardy center.
But what truly makes this pancake “candy” apple is the gooey caramel topping. That topping actually comes from the bottom of the pancake, since you’ll flip it out of the pan after baking. So to achieve that sweet topping, the pancake starts with lots of sugar and spices caramelizing in the bottom of the pan. Then you’ll add your sliced apples, followed by the pancake batter, and bake. When you flip the pancake out, those caramel apples became the topping, a sweet and sticky candy with just the right amount of pull-your-teeth-out chew. A just-on-the-verge-of-over-cooked caramel gives the pancake a hint of bitterness, offsetting the extreme sweetness and adding a bit of smoke that will remind you of those cozy, wood-scented fall mornings.
FALL ADVENTURES
Every year in the fall, we spend at least one weekend at my dad’s house near Kingston, NY. This year, our fall weekend was chock-full of essential activities: a scarecrow festival, a farmers market, a cemetery tour at Wiltwyck Cemetery (we actually missed the tour, but spending time walking around the gorgeous and historic cemetery was lovely, and little Scarlet loved it!), a night of pizza made by a master pizza chef (my dad) and of course apple picking! Here are some photos from our weekend, and hopefully this upside down candy apple pancake will be the perfect addition to your fall weekend too!
Upside-down Candy Apple Pancake
Equipment
- 8 or 10 inch oven proof skillet, such as cast iron
Ingredients
For the batter
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the caramel apple topping
- 2 apples, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Make the pancake batter: In a large bowl whisk together eggs, melted butter, milk and vanilla. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix well to combine. Try to whisk out most of the lumps, but it's ok if some remain.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in an 8 or 10 inch ovenproof skillet (such as cast iron) over medium low heat. Swirl to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the white and brown sugars, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Stir. The mixture will look dry at first but will loosen as the sugars melt.
- Add the sliced apples to the pan and cook, stirring with the sugar, for two minutes.
- Spread the apples out into an even layer and add the batter mixture. Turn the heat off the pan and move the pan to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Flip the pancake by running a knife around its edges to loosen it from the pan and placing a plate or cutting board larger than the pan on top of it. Use an oven mitt and flip in one smooth motion. The pancake should release from the pan easily.
- Top with powdered sugar or maple syrup and serve.
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