Lately, my boys have been on a cinnamon raisin bread roll. They come home from school, drop their bags and head straight to the kitchen – something they do fairly often. (The kitchen part I mean. Have you heard the rumor about teenage boys eating all the time? It’s true).
Anyhow, every time the boys pop a couple of pieces of cinnamon raisin bread into the toaster, my husband asks if there’s apple pie in the oven (always hopeful).
The irony is that I used to make pies with some frequency when my eldest was a newborn. It was before the internet age and all the great online resources that currently exist for new moms. So, I’d watch reruns of Martha Stewart and bake lattice pies while my son napped in the afternoon. I found it so relaxing, therapeutic even.
But alas, life changes, schedules shift and dough isn’t rolled, layered and crimped as often.
And that’s why this little skillet number is such a dream. 10 minutes is all you will need to prepare this tasty dessert and experience that hypnotic apple cinnamon aroma throughout your kitchen and straight into your heart (and you’ll actually be able to say there’s a apple dessert baking in the oven!).
The scant flour, lack of traditional leavening agents, eggs and generous fruit filling make this rustic dessert more like a variation on clafoutis, or pancake, than a traditional cake. There is a certain density that concentrates the flavors and what you lose in height (puffiness) you gain in generosity of taste. The focus is on the delicate sweet flavors of the fruit rather than the flour that would normally be experienced with traditional cake.
So there you have it. A warm, skillet-baked dessert that falls somewhere into that nebulous space between a cake, a pancake and a clafoutis. But most definitely not, a lattice pie.
Got that?
Blueberry-Apple Skillet Cake
Blueberry-Apple Skillet Cake (Clafoutis)
- 3 Tbsp (45 mL) coconut oil or butter
- 1 large apple, peeled and sliced into pieces
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) palm sugar (or sugar of choice)
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) light spelt flour (or flour of choice)
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) milk of choice
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh blueberries
- sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar for topping if desired
Nutrition & Cooking Notes:
- I used a 10-in skillet and I think that’s the outer limit sizewise. Anything larger and you will end up with an overly thin dessert. If you only have larger skillets, I recommend using 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup flour.
- If you want to use a gluten-free grain (such as buckwheat, teff, millet, amaranth, quinoa) or a naturally gluten-free flour (such as coconut, chickpea or almond), I recommend adding a pinch (1/2 tsp) of baking soda to the mix to assist with leavening. If you add more than a 1/2 tsp, you will likely get more of a cake consistency but depending on your preference (whether you prefer the pancake/clafoutis style or a puffier cake style) this may not be a bad thing.
- If you want to experiment with a more traditional cake-style rise for this dessert, increase the flour to 1 cup and add 1 tsp baking powder. I did try it and it worked like a charm although I preferred the taste (and the look) of the original recipe better.
Directions:
Heat oven to 425 F.
- Warm a 10-in (ideally) ovenproof skillet over low-medium heat and add butter or coconut oil to melt. Tilt the skillet (or use spatula) to coat entire surface of skillet.
- Add apple pieces to skillet and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir to combine.
- Allow apple pieces to begin softening, tossing them for a minute or so ~ be sure to soak in the delicious aroma ;-)
- Sprinkle the apple pieces with sugar, stirring again to combine and remove skillet from heat.
- Meanwhile, in a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together: milk, eggs and vanilla.
- Add flour and salt to the wet mixture, whisking to combine.
- Pour batter over skillet apple mixture.
- Sprinkle the top of the batter with blueberries.
- Place skillet in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cake is golden around the edges and starts to lift.
- Carefully remove skillet from oven and allow the dessert to cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving.
- Sprinkle with a little bit of powdered sugar if desired and serve with a dollop of fresh cream or, as is preferred by the boys in this house, vanilla ice cream.
- Enjoy.
Thank you.
Thanks Melissa – yes, you can absolutely leave it at apples (or sub a different fruit for the blueberries if you wish). I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try. Indeed, super simple; just the way I like it! :O)
You said it… you will miss every phase once you pass it and realize just how precious and fleeting it was… seeing little boys running around — especially their sweet, high-pitched voices — brings me to tears. Literally. As for the food intake, it seems to all work out in the end ♡ I distinctly remember sitting at the dinner table as a kid bored out of my mind and dying to leave… I didn’t understand the big attraction and why adults made such a fuss about eating. I just wanted to play (busy!). So funny how things change as I am rather food focused now ;o).
Heeheeh, ain’t it the truth ;-). I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try Elizabeth! it goes down easy for sure. Thank you (as always) for your comments. Such a bright light, xx.
Hello Edwin and thank you for visiting. I modified the post and added the serving information as soon as I saw your note — the dessert serves 8 and the nutrition information is based on one of those servings. I sure you hope you enjoy it if you give it a try – please let me know how it goes if you do! Happy Saturday :)
Thanks Sissi! Yes, cherries are the classic for clafoutis as well as cream to create that luscious custard texture – this is not quite that but has it’s own charm ;-). My next version though, I’m going with cream! The blueberries seem to do well under heat as you say and I love how they bleed into the batter — I am surrounded by gorgeous seasonal berries here in California and I find them irresistible!! (p.s. I could eat coconut oil by the tablespoon full :O)
cyber sisters ;-) and yes indeed, plans change… the clafoutis could not be easier though — you’ll have to give it a try on the next round :)
This is perfect! I always want to make a pie but it seems so complicated and long! Love how quick and easy this skillet version is :) Do you think I can make it with only apples?? Thanks!
Clafoutis are such life saviors, aren’t they? In summer we make them all the time, I love the berry contrast with cake/custard base, gorgeous! :)
Such an easy and lovely way to sweeten the day, isn’t it? Beautiful work, my friend.
Since the berry season is here, I must give this a go too. Your skillet clafoutis looks awesome, Kelly.
Lovely Kelly! Yummy
and quick! Perhaps good too with the morning coffee. Pics are beauts!
I love all these choices. This makes my heart and taste buds sing!
Sublime.
This looks incredible, Kelly! WOW.
Oh my…I’m on the opposite end right now. I can’t get my two little ones to eat ANYTHING. I always have to remind myself to enjoy each stage because one day they’ll be eating everything and sleeping till noon, and I know I’ll miss my little boys. They will however eat plenty of cinnamon raisin bread too…hummm…makes me wonder ;)
This cake sounds delicious with the fresh apples and blueberries. Giving me another excuse to use my cast iron pans. Every time I use mine and my husband sees, he says, “Any excuse, right?”
As always, beautiful recipe Kelly! XOXOX
“Always hopeful” – haha! that made me smile. I love the look of this rustic dessert Kelly and it sounds so simple too. Ten minutes definitely suits my mommy sensibilities and I can’t wait to smell the delicious aromas wafting through the air :). I think I will leave the recipe just as it is to experience more like a clafoutis — it sounds delicious. About to hit print. Thanks for this one!
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve printed it and will make it SOON. Thanks also for the nutritional information. That’s always important to me. One question: The nutritional information is based on how many servings for this recipe? Thanks.
My heart missed two beats, then it missed two more… You are not going to be surprised, I suppose – but Phil and I almost made a clafoutis last night, then we collapsed on the sofa instead. Some plans change fast, but we have all the ingredients…
same wavelength! Same wavelength again!!!!