Cast Iron Cooking: Upside-Down Apple Tart

What did I do before I inherited my grandmother's cast iron? It amazes me I managed to survive in the kitchen without cast iron pans. The latest cast iron creation came to me courtesy of Southern Living magazine. Say hello to Upside-Down Apple Tart.


This is not a picture of my tart. Though it could have looked like that if the following things had not occurred:

- I was making it for my small group on Wednesday and I wanted it to be hot for them. However, I do not have enough time after work to peel the apples and cook it. So, I peeled the apples on Tuesday, which was not a problem except I think it gave the apples the chance to lose some of their liquid. Which, in turn, led to the syrup part not thickening and the apples got a little mushy. Still good eats, the apples were more amorphous than the above picture displays.

- Since I cooked it after work and before small group, I had a very small window of time to work. I could not wait for the sauce to thicken more and once the oven timer went off, out the door I went to small group.

- Because the sauce was not as thick as desired and the crust (which is amazing!) may not have cooked as long as it could have to reach the perfect golden brown crust, when Aaron and I flipped the not-so-light cast iron pan filled with tart over, "shifting" occurred. That is to say, it nearly fell off the plate and onto the table. But all was well and only a few globs of apple/sauce fell overboard.

- The tart goes great with ice cream, by the way. Too bad I left the quart I bought for it at home.

Moral of the story: This is a great and easy dessert to make and it elicits oohs, aahs and yums. However, perhaps you can learn from my experience and do all of the recipe in one day. Except for the dough - that can be done a day ahead without any ill effects. And, as a fellow small grouper admitted later, it makes for a great breakfast the next day. Better than a pop tart!