Brown Butter Apple Cake

Continuing my baked apple dessert kick... this is somewhere between a cake and a cobbler.  Either way, it's great hot with ice cream.

I like it even better the next day, after the flavors have blended a little bit.

From my friend Meredith, who I think got it from Dinner with Julie.

Ingredients:
3 (or so) medium apples, peeled and sliced
1 T lemon juice
3/4 c. + 3 T sugar, divided
1/2 t cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
2 large eggs
1 c. all-purpose flour

Directions:  
Preheat the oven to 350F and butter a 9 in. pie plate or cake pan.  (I used a cake pan since my pie pans have little holes in the bottom for a crisper crust.  Great for crusts, not so much for oozy fruit juices.)

Toss the apples in a bowl with 2 T sugar, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice (to prevent browning).  Spread into the cake pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan or small frying pan and keep cooking it until it turns golden.  This will take roughly 5 minutes from when it melts; keep the heat low and watch it closely and swirl constantly-- it can go from brown (fantastic) to black (throw it out and start over) very quickly. 

Once the butter cools a little, stir in the 3/4 c. of sugar.

Once it cools even more (enough to keep the eggs from cooking before they can be incorporated into the batter), stir in the eggs and flour.  Pour over the apples and sprinkle with the remaining 1 T of sugar.

Get rid of any lumps in the sugar-- it turns out that they won't dissolve and will mar the otherwise lovely, shiny surface of the cake.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden and the juices are coming up around the edges.

Slice and serve warm with ice cream, or let cool to room temperature and serve cold.

Makes 8 servings.