Apple upside down cake is an impressive dessert featuring cinnamon spiced cake and topped with caramelized apples. This easy dessert is lovely on crisp day or to finish a holiday meal!
Are you team apple or team pumpkin?
I lean more to the apple side of life.
Because really when you’re talking tart apples caramelized to perfection with cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar on top of cake, you can’t go wrong!
Apple upside down cake is such a treat!
Not only does it make your kitchen smell positively heavenly as it bakes, but it is the perfect alternative to classic pumpkin pie for any non pumpkin fans at the holidays.
It looks as impressive as it tastes, with a caramelized apple topping.
And because it’s an upside down, it’s fairly easy to make even though it looks like it would take you a whole day working away in the kitchen.
What is the point of an upside down?
Pineapple upside down is the most common variety of upside down cake, but the principles from it apply to this lovely apple upside down cake.
The point of the cake is to bake it with the fruit and accompanying butter and sugar on the bottom of the cake pan underneath the cake batter.
This lets the fruit topping caramelize and creates a pretty and tasty pattern of fruit slices on the top of your cake once you turn it out.
It’s an easy way to make an impressive looking cake!
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need two sets of ingredients: one for the topping and one for the cake itself.
For the apple topping you’ll need:
- Apples– Peeled and thinly sliced. Pick a firm apple like Granny Smiths that will not turn to mush when you bake them,
- Caramel ingredients– Butter, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon
To make the cake itself you’ll need:
- Flour– All purpose
- Baking powder– For leavening
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt– To balance the sweetness
- Oil– A mild oil like vegetable oil or canola oil
- Sugar– Both brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla– Real vanilla extract
- Apple sauce
How to Make
This apple upside down cake is pretty easy to make!
Start by preheating the oven to 350 F.
Then grease a 9” round baking pan well or spray it liberally with nonstick spray.
Arrange the thinly sliced apples in the bottom of the baking pan, and set it aside while you make the caramel topping.
To make the caramel topping, cook the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is bubbly.
Remove it from the heat and pour the sauce over the apples.
Set it aside.
Then prepare the cake batter by whisking together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.
Set the dry ingredients aside.
Then, beat together the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth in a large bowl.
Once the sugar mixture is smooth, beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Then stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until everything is just combined.
Finish the batter by stirring in the apple sauce until it is smooth.
Pour the batter over the apples in the pan.
Then bake in preheated oven until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes flipping onto a serving plate.
Slice and serve warm!
Enjoy!
Storing
Store any leftover upside down cake in the fridge in an airtight container or tightly covered.
The cake should stay good for about 5 days.
Reheat the slices of cake in the microwave so you can enjoy a warm slice each time!
Tips and Tricks
- An apple corer can come in handy to remove the seeds and center of the apples easily.
- Feel free to add a little nutmeg to the cake if you enjoy the flavor. I recommend 1/4 teaspoon.
- Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for a real treat!
Other Easy Apple Desserts
Apple upside down is a delicious and easy apple dessert we love all fall long!
Make it and enjoy!
Looking for other easy apple desserts?
Try these:
- Snickerdoodle Apple Cobbler
- Apple Pie Fluff Salad
- Instant Pot Cranberry Applesauce
- Caramel Apple Pie Bombs
If you’ve tried this APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Apple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
For The Apple Topping
- 2 large apples peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
For The Apple Cake
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, grease a 9” round baking pan
- Arrange the apples in the bottom of the baking pan, set aside2 large apples
- In a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and cook over medium heat until bubbly, remove from heat and pour over the apples, set aside1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt
- In a large bowl, stir together the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth, then beat in the eggs and vanilla1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Stir in the flour mixture until just combined, the stir in the apple sauce until batter is smooth1/2 cup apple sauce
- Pour the batter over the apples in the pan, then bake in preheated oven until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes
- Allow to cool 10 minutes flipping onto a serving plate.
- Slice and serve warm!
Notes
- An apple corer can come in handy to remove the seeds and center of the apples easily.
- Feel free to add a little nutmeg to the cake if you enjoy the flavor. I recommend 1/4 teaspoon.
- Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for a real treat!
Nutrition
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