Apple-Walnut Upside-Down Cake

Name: Apple-Walnut Upside-Down Cake
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup raw walnuts or pecans; 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, divided; 4 small or 3 large baking apples (such as Pink Lady), peeled, halved, cored; ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar, divided; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 tsp. kosher salt; 1 tsp. baking soda; ½ tsp. baking powder; ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg; 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for serving; ½ cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs, room temperature; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; ½ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, room temperature; Lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream (for serving)

By Claire Saffitz

September 17, 2019

Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich

Tender, nutty, and studded with caramel-glazed apple halves, Claire Saffitz’s apple cake is the best apple cake. (Yeah, we said it.) Use a cast-iron skillet to caramelize the apples and bake the cake all in one vessel, a win-win. Ground nuts give the cake a toasty, deep flavor and tenderize the crumb by adding fat and countering flour’s glutinous toughness. And one more pro tip from Claire: Use a melon baller, or a sturdy teaspoon measure, to remove the core in the neatest scoop.