​Skillet Gingerbread Cake with Apple Butter

gSo, I thought nothing could top the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread Cake - and really, nothin can, when you're looking for that punch-in-the-face kind of flavor. But, that's not always everyone's thing, and for all those people, there's this cake. It's moist, it's decadent, it's gingery and spicy and molasses-y, but it's not too much. 
Serves 12
Ingredients​
  • Nonstick baker’s spray or cooking spray, for the pan
  • 2¼ cups/288 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup/60 grams whole wheat flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ⅔ cup/135 grams granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup/75 grams packed brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 5 tablespoons/70 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ⅓ cup/80 milliliters neutral oil
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • ⅓ cup/80 milliliters unsulfured molasses
  • ¾ cup/160 milliliters apple butter
  • ¼ cup/60 milliliters buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons sanding sugar, for topping (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar, for topping (optional)

Equipment
  • ​10" cast iron skillet
Directions
  1. ​Center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch (7-cup) cast iron skillet with bakers’ or cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Whisk the all-purpose and whole wheat flours together with the baking soda, salt and spices.
  3. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the granulated and brown sugars and the butter together at medium speed for about 3 minutes. The mixture will be pasty and that’s fine. Pour in the oil and beat for another 2 minutes. (Don’t wash the measuring cup before using it for the molasses. The oily residue will help the molasses slide out of the cup easily.) Add the egg and beat for a minute. With the mixer on low, beat in the molasses followed by the apple butter.
  4. Add half the flour mixture and, still working on low, mix until it just disappears into the batter. Blend in the buttermilk, followed by the remainder of the flour mixture. You’ll have a thick batter. Scrape it into the skillet, nudging it into the corners of the pan and smoothing the top. If using, sprinkle over the sanding sugar then top with the pearl sugar.
  5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top of the gingerbread is uniformly puffed, the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and, most important, a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the skillet to a rack and let the cake cool until it’s just warm or reaches room temperature before cutting. Left in the skillet and well covered, the cake will keep at room temperature for about 5 days.
Source

Notes:
  • ​First things first, measure out the butter and buttermilk and set them out to come up to room temperature.
  • The OG recipe includes 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger - I don't like that so I left it out. If you want to add it back in, stir it in after the second flour addition.
  • Eric thought the topping sugars were too much, but I loved them - next time I'll cover half the cake, and leave the other half - ok, well, maybe just a quarter - bare for him.