19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, September 12, 1914: Made a cake today. It looked like having been made by a green-horn.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hmm. . . what kind of cake did Grandma make? It’s getting to be apple season—maybe Grandma made an Apple Upside-down Skillet Cake. It can be a little tricky to successfully get it out of the pan in one piece—so if care is not used it can end up looking like it was made by a “green-horn.”
Apple Upside-down Skillet Cake
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 cups sliced apples
In a mixing bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, 2/3 cup sugar, shortening, eggs, vanilla, and milk. Beat until there is a smooth batter. Set aside.
Stir 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a small bowl. Add water and butter, and then pour into a 10-inch skillet with an oven-proof handle. Cook on the stove top using medium heat. Stir constantly until sauce boils and becomes clear. Turn off heat. Add the apple slices, and spread evenly in the skillet.
Pour the batter into skillet over the apple slices.
Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the center of cake is springy when lightly pressed with finger tips. Cool in skillet for about ten minutes; then turn out onto a serving plate.