This recipe was requested back in October. Originally, I made it in a le Creuset sauce pot, but at work I switched to a nine inch cast iron skillet for which I have a tight fitting lid. This cake is easy, although the first time you make it, the technique may seem peculiar. Set oven at 375 degrees.


1/2 cup yellow raisins
3/4 cup dark rum
1 cup stale bread crumbs
4 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples, sprinkled with a little lemon juice
1 orange- rind grated; save the juice
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar, divided
pinch of salt

2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 cup red currant jelly

Warm the rum, then steep the raisins in it for fifteen minutes to plump them. Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the rum and raisins. Then fold in the apples, orange rind, cinnamon and vanilla. The mixture will be suspiciously clumpy. Beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until they are pale and creamy. Fold into the apple mixture. This will be very thick.

Put skillet on top of the stove on the lowest possible heat. Add the butter to melt. Swirl it around to coat the skillet.

Beat the egg whites with the salt and the rest of the sugar until shiny and firm. Fold them into the apple crumb mixture by thirds. Turn the skillet up to high. When the butter begins to sizzle, pour in the cake batter and even it out with a spatula. Allow the cake to fry for a minute or two. The butter will begin to come up around the sides of the batter and perhaps up through the middle as well. Cover the skillet and place it in the oven. Bake for between 25 and 30 minutes until the cake begins to feel firm at the center. If any batter sticks to your finger when you test it, it isn't quite ready. If it is ready, remove the lid and cook until the top is brown and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the skillet, at least ten more minutes, but more in some ovens. Remove the skillet from the oven and allow it to rest on a cake rack for twenty minutes.

While the cake is still warm, wobble the skillet from side to side gently until it is clear that the cake has dislodged itself and isn't sticking. Do this deliberately but gently. This next part takes nerve the first time, but isn't that hard. Place a cake plate over the cake and flip the skillet over. Since the cast iron is heavy you need to follow through once you start. Sometimes hot butter or sugar will drip out and startle you but it won't be hot enough to hurt you. Pull the skillet straight up and away. You should be looking at a beautiful cake. Melt the currant jelly in a small saucepan, Add enough of the orange juice to make it a little runny. While the cake is still warm pour this, through a sieve, over the cake to coat it. Some of the glaze will spread out around the cake on the plate. That's OK. The cake is good warm or cold, but it is particularly good warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. It reheats well in the microwave.