Claire Saffitz, Youtube
Baked it first after an inspiration through Instagram, and served it for a group of friends in Calafell. A success! The filling is juicy but not liquid, not sticky and it holds together. It's not overly sweet but BE CAREFUL! It's addictive.
Use a 26cm skillet that can go in the oven (stainless steel works as well as a cast iron).
Filling ingredients
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2tbsp heavy cream (kremfløte)
1,5 Kg (8) sweet-tart apples (pink lady works very well bc they hold their shape)
1 tbsp cornstarch (Maizena)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Additional: a bit of water to mix the maizena with.
Additional: if apples are sweet (like pink lady), a bit of 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon. If they are granny smith (the green ones), you don't need to add anything.
Additional: a dash of salt
Topping ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned rollet oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup demerara sugar (it's like brown sugar but coarsely granulated, not humid)
1 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
12 tbsp unsalted butter
For the topping, mix all the dry ingredients except the butter. Then add the cold butter and work it in the ingredients with your fingertips. There should be no lose floury parts in the bottom of the bowl and no chunks of butter left. Keep in the fridge.
Peel all the apples and cut them in aprox.5mm slices. Do not have core, skin or seeds left.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees.
Medium high in the skillet, and spread half the granulated sugar on the surface. once it starts to melt, add the remaining sugar. And when the sugar starts getting color, lower heat to medium and stir to help even the temperature.
Turn heat off and add unsalted butter. Mix very well to emulsify the butter with the sugar, then add the cream.
Turn heat to medium and add the slices of apple (half of them). Mix and, as they soften and give up juices, add the rest. It has a sizzeling sound at the beginning. But do not burn the apples, turn the heat a bit down.
Continue to cook and reduce, and the first batch of apples will start to bend and not break.
Mix cornstarch with a bit of water with a fork and set aside.
When all the slices bend, add the cornstarch and let it cook in while stirring, so the apple juices get together.
Take it out of the heat and here an additional part: tart apples add nothing, for sweet apples add a bit of lemon or apple cider vinegar and salt. I added for pink lady and spot on!
Put ALL your topping over the apples, don't leave anything out. Delicious.
Bake in oven 45 min.
Eat when skillet is warm (not burning) or cold.