Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

The cake portion itself was a fail, the apples were amazing, and the whole thing looked like a hot mess... but the idea is irresistible! 2 pounds of granny smith apples, cored and sliced, then cooked in a mixture of butter and brown sugar. I simmered that in my dutch oven on the stove until the juice reduced and the apples were just slightly cooked, then removed that from the heat and poured a whole wheat cake batter over it and popped the whole thing into the oven. I baked it for about 35 minutes at 350, and inverted it onto a serving platter. It smelled amazing, and the apples were just to die for. The cake recipe was bland, and quite tough, but the SWEET apples kind of balanced it out. The kids liked it! (I used an apple upside down cake recipe from Cooks Illustrated for the apples, and then a recipe for pineapple upside down cake from my Vitamix cookbook for the cake.) 

Please, somebody - perfect this recipe for me! The cake needs to be fairly sturdy...but not THIS sturdy. Take on the challenge! 

It should have been delicious...

...instead, it was bland and tasted vaguely of onions.

I attempted to make a breakfast casserole for a church breakfast. I used homemade bread, handfuls of dried cranberries, a few chopped (local) apples and eggnog for the creamy, creamy base. Salt was thrown in for some variety and contrast. I added a few fresh eggs to make it into a lovely custard, and baked it until the top was nice and golden.

I was so proud of my dish. I took it to the party, and placed it on the table. Takers were few, but I assumed that was because they couldn't know that it was an eggnog casserole. Had they known, it would have been devoured on the spot!

When I finally found my way to the table and tasted a bite...I knew I had created a Catastrophic Fail. How could the above mentioned ingredients be combined to create something so completely bland...and reminiscent of onions.

Could it be the onions I chopped on the board a few days prior? Had their evil vapors somehow made their way into the apples? Or the bread that was chopped on the same board as well? Did it simply suffer from a lack of salt?

Dear readers, help me out here. How did a lovely Eggnog Breakfast Casserole turn out tasting like...Bland Onion Catastrophe??

For the record, here's my recipe. Seriously - any idea why this wasn't delicious??! Maybe some lemon juice would have helped...or more eggnog spices, to make it more pronounced.

1 loaf stale bread, cubed (1 lb)
2 apples, chopped
1 cup Craisins
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup eggnog
1 tsp. salt
Bake at 350