Upside-Down Gingerbread Apple Cake

The heathen cake I mentioned last week actually turned out well! Well, "well for how little chocolate is in it".

I understand that there are people in the world who don't like chocolate. I don't understand how or why, but I am aware that they (/you) exist. You are free to have your opinion, as long as I'm free to call you a heathen.

Chocolate is life.

But that doesn't mean everything else is death. On a spectrum between life and death, this cake is purgatory. It may not be chocolate, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

You'll need a springform pan. Preferably about a 10" one.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/8 lb) butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 apples, peeled (whatever variety you prefer)
  
• 1/2 cup (1/4 lb) butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup molasses
  
• 2 1/2 cups cake & pastry flour (in this one you'd be allowed to use all purpose if you'd like)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp ginger
• 1 tbsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 cup hot water (I recommend boiling the water when you start mixing things. It'll cool down a bit but still be plenty warm by the time you need it.)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. (If you're following my advice, also boil water. If not, why are you reading my recipe?)
2. Melt 1/4 cup of butter.
3. Spread melted butter around the bottom of the springform pan.
4. Add brown sugar evenly to buttered springform pan.
5. Slice enough apple (as thinly as you can manage) to go around the inside of the springform. Make sure there's apple from the edge to the centre.
6. If you'd like to, grease the springform now. (I don't usually. I just use a knife to loosen it from the sides. Your choice.)
7. Cream the 1/2 cup butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. (Once again, stand mixers are a wonderful help with this step!)
8. Mix in the eggs and molasses.
9. Chop the remaining apple (if you have any) and add it to the mix.
10. Add the dry ingredients and mix.
11. Add the no-longer-boiling-but-still-hot water and mix. Thus completeth the batter.
12. Pour the batter into the springform (over the apple).
13. Bake at 350F for 45-50min, or, until you can poke the middle with a toothpick and have it come out clean.
14. Allow to cool before removing the springform. (Maybe wash some dishes?)
15. Flip, slice, and serve.

See, I wasn't bluffing. There's actually no chocolate in it at all! But it still tastes good (assuming you like gingerbread and apples. If you like gingerbread but not apples, try other fruit! I've heard canned pears work well, as long as you pat them dry first).

Also, if you're like me and forget to add the rest of the apples (step 9), you have a handy snack to eat while waiting for the cake to heat up and cool down.