Yapple-Dapple (Apple galette, cognac caramel sauce)

We are now in undisputed apple season. In my hometown, September is always marked by the Apple Peach Festival, sadly this year just an apple festival after the late spring frost laid waste to the peach blossoms. Intending to console myself with copious amounts of apples, I had my heart set on tarte Tatin: a pastry crust baked upside-down atop a layer of deeply caramelized apples. This led to my next revelation, however: that recipe seemed somehow intimidating. I feel like "effortless elegance" is more my wheelhouse, so I split the difference: an easy apple galette, gussied up with cognac caramel sauce.

Gastronomically gussied

Sunny Side Up (Pineapple Upside-Down Cake)

Pineapple upside-down cake is amazing. Don't get me wrong; I think lots of cakes are amazing, but this one definitely has a little something special. Growing up, it was my father's favorite and requisite for each of his birthdays (conveniently in May). As a child, I protested the lack of icing, which is kind of silly, because pineapple upside-down cake's appeal is a luscious caramel topping that makes icing wholly unnecessary. There's a kind of witchery that occurs in the baking, whereby the oozing caramel fuses into the cake itself to provide a layer of incalculably succulent sweetness. In a fit of nostalgia, I baked it for my sister-in-law Sarah's birthday, as a little something different.

See the difference?