By Jenna Rae Cakes
A beautiful thing happens when you step into your kitchen and pull out a handwritten recipe card. The wrinkled paper, decorated with scribbled notes in the margins, immediately transports you to time spent with family: rolling out dough, laughing, and licking chocolatey spatulas before cleaning tiny chocolatey fingers.
These are the moments, secrets, techniques, and traditions that get passed on. If you close your eyes, you might even be able to smell your favourite cake baking or hear the voices of your loved ones imparting their wisdom. Recipe cards are the keepers of these beautiful memories; a warm reminder of the precious time we have spent baking delicious treats with family, and inspiration for us to return to the kitchen to create new memories.
Jenna Rae Cakes at Home is our second cookbook and brings our signature flavours and style to the kind of baking people do every day. It’s filled with sections dedicated to breakfast classics like pancakes, waffles, and French toast, or snacks like muffins, scones, and biscuits, and crowd-favourite party treats like pastries, pies, and tarts. A handful of recipes in the pages have been passed down for generations through our own family, used for birthday parties, summer barbeques, and family reunions.
We have so many special memories of baking at home with our mom, Granny, and Baba. As our own families grow, and as we pass on our recipes to our children, we realize we’re creating memories that will last a lifetime. Our hope is that Jenna Rae Cakes at Home will inspire you to build memories with the ones you love.
Deep Dish Upside Down Salted Caramel Apple Pancake
Makes one 8-inch pancake; serves 6 to 8
Served warm from the oven, this fluffy deep-dish pancake, swimming in caramel apple gooeyness, is irresistible. When our bakers were testing this recipe, they topped their pancakes with salted caramel ice cream, too! One of our bakers even said she’d bake this as a stand-alone dessert. Don’t be shy about serving pancakes after dinner!
Caramelized Apple Base Ingredients
¼ cup unsalted butter
8 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into
¼ inch slices
1½ cups packed brown sugar
½ cup whipping (35%) cream
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Deep Dish Pancake Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup whole (3.25%) milk
3 tablespoons full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup icing sugar, for garnish
Caramelized Apple Base
1. Place the butter in an 8-inch round cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Once the butter
is melted and bubbling, add the apples, stirring occasionally until al dente.
2. Add the brown sugar, whipping cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for
5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly. Add the vanilla and continue to cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove the skillet from the heat. Use an offset spatula to spread the apples in an even layer.
Deep Dish Pancake
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the sides of the cast iron skillet with cooking oil. It’s okay if some of the oil mixes with the caramelized apple base.
4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, oil, egg, and vanilla.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix. It’s okay if the batter looks lumpy.
7. Gently pour the batter evenly into the prepared cast iron skillet overtop the apples, trying not to disrupt the apples. You can pour the batter over the back of a spoon so the stream of liquid isn’t as forceful. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the pancake comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan.
8. Run a knife or an offset spatula around the inside edge of the pan to release the edges of the pancake. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the pancake with icing sugar, to taste. Cut into slices. To serve, flip each slice so the apples appear on top. Serve immediately
Baker’s Tip
The size of the cast iron skillet is important! We recommend an 8-inch diameter pan that’s at least 2 inches tall. The pancake will be about 1½ inches tall after baking. If you’re using a skillet that is larger than 8 inches in diameter, you’ll need to decrease the baking time because the pancake won’t be as thick.
