The Dish

Apple Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake
Serves 12

Ingredients

Topping:
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 apples, peeled and sliced (about 2cm thick)

Cake:
¼ cup butter softened
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
½ cup molasses
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt

Topping:
Combine butter and brown sugar and spread in bottom of a greased 9 inch square pan. Lay apples on top and along sides of pan.

Cake:
Cream butter and brown sugar, add eggs and beat until incorporated. Blend in applesauce and molasses. Add all dry ingredients, then mix well. Spoon batter over apples, and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Run a knife along the edges of the cake and invert onto a serving plate, leave the pan upside down for a few minutes to let all of the topping drip down.

Nutrition Tips
The molasses in this cake makes it a source of iron.
Per serving: 279kcal, 49g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein and 9g fat.

Tips
Try fresh or canned, drained pears as an alternative.
A glass baking dish works great, so you can see if the apples have cooked.

Gajrela
(Makes 4-6 servings)

4 cups shredded carrots
1 cup 1% milk
½ cup lightly packed sugar
½ tsp ground cardamom
¾ cup light ricotta cheese
2 tbsp raisins (optional)

In a medium saucepan, bring ½ cup water to boil over high heat. Add carrots, reduce heat to medium high and boil stirring often, for 2 minutes.

Add milk and boil gently, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes or until mixture is almost dry. (Don’t worry, it may look curdled.)

Reduce heat to a medium-low and stir in brown sugar, cardamom and ricotta. Cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Stir in raisins.

Tips
Gajrela can be served warm or cold.
You can use skim, or 2% milk as well for this recipe – whatever you have on hand.

Nutrition Tips
Per serving: 133kcal, 24g carbohydrate, 5g protein, 2.1g fat and 2g fiber.