Confession time: I love skillets.
I love cooking in skillets.
I love baking in skillets.
I love broiling in skillets.
I love wearing skillets as dangly earrings on date nights.
Really? No. Maybe? Only every third one.
The truth is that even before I got serious about cooking, I was always intrigued by meals that can be assembled and prepared using just one pan. Specifically, cast iron skillets, because they are so inexpensive, so versatile, and such efficient conductors of heat; they are the very best multi-tasking kitchen tool I’ve personally ever encountered.
And since my cast iron skillet has been such a solid player in my kitchen happenings over the years, I’m returning the favor with a week-long skilletpalooza in the form of recipes and posts each day featuring dishes, both savory and sweet, that can be cooked in just one skillet.
Today’s skillet-tastic recipe is one that is truly near and dear: sweet skillet cakes are, in my opinion, the eighth wonder of the modern world, and this one is no exception.
I should back up and talk just a bit about how I care for my cast iron skillet.
We all probably know that cast iron should be seasoned, not scrubbed, right? I season early and often, and actually subscribe to a rule similar to that on cooking with wine: I only season my cast iron skillet with high quality oil with which I would cook or bake. Why? Because it has been my experience that cast iron absorbs the flavor of seasoning oil, which is why I wouldn’t want to season and ‘flavor’ my favorite skillet with the taste of an oil or fat that is, for lack of a better word, gross. Once I have seasoned my skillet, I will let it dry and set it aside in a cool, dry area for the next time I’m ready to use it.
I should also note that seasoning is not the same thing as greasing or preparing your skillet, as is called for in this recipe. When I make this cake or one like it, I may choose to season my pan with oil first, but I will then take the additional step of greasing my pan with whatever fat works best with my recipe, in this case butter.
Onwards to the cake.
