Butterscotch-Topped Gingerbread Cake with Sauteed Apples

Several years ago my mother raved about a cake that her friend Suzy made. (Suzy is a great cook and has FABULOUS recipes.) It sounded wonderful and perfect for fall so ever since then I've been waiting for the right opportunity to test it out. Well, such an occasion presented itself to me last week in the way of cooking club with a Fall/Halloween/pumpkin theme. The recipe calls for baking in a 3-inch deep 9-inch round, but since I was making this for cooking club, I baked it in a 9 x 13. I turned it upside down and cut it into these individual triangles (per Suzy's suggestion.) Oh my goodness. I loved this cake- my mom was right! I ate it for lunch for 4 days straight! It tastes best when the cake and apples are warm and the cool whipped cream starts to melt into the cake. I will definitely be making this again soon. I'm even seriously considering making it a part of Thanksgiving dinner this year, in honor of my mother, who loved this cake.

Butterscotch-Topped Gingerbread Cake with Sauteed Apples

For the butterscotch:
6 Tbs unsalted butter
3/4 c packed brown sugar

For the cake:
2 3/4 c cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs ground ginger
1 Tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
8 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp + 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup molasses
1 1/2 cup boiling water
2 large eggs

For the topping:
3 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs sugar
1 3/4 lbs. Apples, peeled, sliced

Butter and flour sides but not bottom of 9 inch round pan. 3 inches deep.

Make butterscotch: in a small saucepan melt 6 Tbs butter and sugar together, stirring for a smooth mixture. Pour it into the cake pan and swirl it to coat the bottom. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Put water on to start boiling. In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, singer, cinnamon, and cloves, and set aside. Using paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. With a fork, stir in 1 tsp of the baking soda vigorously into the molasses until the molasses has lightened somewhat and has changed in texture. This can take a minute or two. Add the molasses to the butter-sugar mixture and mix on medium until completely combined. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the boiling water. On low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the water to the butter mixture. Finally add the eggs one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. The batter will be very thin. Bake until the center of the cake is spriny and a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes and invert cake onto a serving plate. Let cool an hour before serving. Just vbfore serving, saute apples in butter and sugar mixture. Top cake with warm apples and serve with whipped cream.