Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch ground cardamom
pinch salt
1 large apple, cored and sliced into thin rings (I used Stayman)
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Directions:
Place a 12-inch cast iron skillet in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350. Add the butter to the skillet in the oven and let it melt. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt and spices. Remove the skillet from the oven and quickly sprinkle with sugar and arrange the apple slices in a single layer. Pour the batter over the apple and return to the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Invert on to a platter. Slice and serve!

My thoughts:

We went to the apple butter festival this year and as always it was a great event (if a bit damp!). Open air apple butter making over wood fires, hog calling and lots of fresh West Viriginan apples to be had. We came home with pounds of apples and bottles of my favorite hickory syrup and I was racking my brain for way to use them both in one yummy dish. I came up with this, sort of a cross between a Dutch baby and a upside-down cake. I cored my apple (I only have a star shaped corer; you might notice the shape in the middle of the apple) and placed thin slices pineapple upside-down cake-style on my sugar-lined cast iron skillet then spread the batter on top. It puffed up became a fluffy pancake. Once sliced, I drizzled a bit of hickory syrup on it but it wasn’t strictly necessary. The apples cooked up soft and caramelized and the pancake was perfectly spiced. A lovely choice for brunch, breakfast or as we had it, breakfast-for-dinner.