Skillet Apple Spice Cake
Applesauce cake baked over apple slices in a covered pot. No eggs, no fridge.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Brown sugar | 1 1/4 cups | 1 cup for the batter, 1/4 cup for the swirl |
| Baking soda | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 tbsp | 1 tsp in the batter, the rest in the swirl |
| Ground cloves | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cocoa powder | 1 tsp | for color and depth, not chocolate flavor |
| Unsweetened applesauce | 1 1/2 cups | shelf-stable cups or a pouch |
| Cooking oil | 1/2 cup | |
| Butter | 2 tbsp | for greasing the pot |
| Apple | 1 large | firm variety, sliced thin at camp |
Method
- Build a bed of coals. You want a steady moderate heat, not flames.
- Grease the inside of a 10-inch dutch oven with the butter, bottom and sides.
- Slice the apple thin and lay the slices flat across the bottom of the pot in overlapping rows.
- In a bag or bowl, stir the flour, 1 cup brown sugar, baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, cloves, salt, and cocoa. Add the applesauce and oil. Stir until it just comes together.
- Spoon half the batter over the apples and spread it gently. Do not drag the slices out of place.
- Mix the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with the remaining cinnamon and scatter it over the batter. Add the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out.
- Drag a knife through in a couple of long S-curves to swirl the sugar layer. Stay above the apples.
- Lid on. Roughly 8 coals under the pot and 16 on the lid. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, rotating pot and lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes.
- Done when a stick poked into the center comes out clean. Let it sit 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate so the apples end up on top.
This is a cake that works because it has no eggs and no butter in the crumb. Applesauce and oil do both jobs — the sauce brings moisture and acid to react with the baking soda, the oil brings fat that does not need to stay cold. That means the whole dry side travels premixed in a bag and the wet side travels in pouches and a bottle. Nothing here cares about a cooler.
The apples go on the bottom because that is the hottest surface, and the sugar in them caramelizes against the cast iron. Flip the pot at the end and they are the top of the cake. The cocoa is a small amount on purpose: it darkens the crumb and deepens the spice without reading as chocolate. Coals on the lid matter more than coals underneath — too many below and the apple layer scorches before the center sets.
Packing
Combine the flour, sugar, soda, spices, salt, and cocoa in one bag at home and label it. Oil goes in a leakproof bottle, applesauce in pouches. Carry the apple whole and slice it at camp so it does not brown in the pack.
Variations
- No dutch oven: pour the batter into a greased foil pan, tent it with foil, and set it on a grill grate over low coals.
- Dried apple rings soaked in a little water for ten minutes stand in for the fresh apple.
- Swap half the applesauce for a pouch of pear or peach puree.
https://www.pinchmeimeating.com/upside-down-cinnamon-spice-apple-coffee-cake