Apple Upside Down Cake
This delicious Apple Upside Down Cake features a caramel apple topping, and a fluffy spiced cake. Read all the instructions and notes before you start, specially the ones about the caramel sauce.
Servings 10 servings
Calories 240kcal
Ingredients
Apple Topping
- 1 apple
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 1 tbsp corn syrup, or glucose read notes
- 1/4 cup water 60 ml
Cake Batter
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 191 grams
- 1 tsp baking power
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature (170 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk 78 ml
Instructions
Apples
- Peel the apple, slice into 1/4" thick slices. Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples and stir gently to coat them in the spices. Set aside.
- Prepare the cake pan
- Use a 9” cake pan for this recipe.
- Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with oil.
- Place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Grease the parchment paper. It’s very important to line the pan with parchment to prevent the caramel from sticking.
- Place the apples on the bottom of the pan on an even layer, you can arrange them in a circle around the edges, and then in the center of the cake pan.
Caramel
- Read the instructions before starting.
- Place the cake pan, with the apples on the bottom right next to where the caramel is being made, because once the caramel is ready you have to immediately pour it in the pan.
- Use a stainless steel saucepan to make the caramel. Don’t use non-stick or aluminum pan.
- Make sure the pan is clean, with no food residues in its even the tiniest bit of grease can spoil the caramel.
- Add the sugar to the pan. Pour the water in, then add the glucose. Stir gently with a spatula until a wet sand consistency, and the sugar is incorporated with the water. When stirring, avoid getting sugar crystals on the sides of the pan, which can also cause crystallization of the caramel.
- Dip a brush in water and brush the sides of the pan, to make sure there are no sugar crystals there.
- Place the pan over medium high heat.
- Let the mixture come to a boil. Do not move or stir or shake the pan. The sugar will melt, it will become a clear syrup with lots of fast moving bubbles. The next stage will be a slowing down of the bubbling, and that’s when the caramel will start to darken. Pay very close attention to it, as it can go from barely golden to burnt in just a few seconds if you aren’t careful.
- Once you see the caramel starting to brown in certain spots, you can gently swirl the pan once or twice. Keep cooking it until the syrup is a light golden color.
- Immediately remove it from the heat and pour over the apples.
- Set the pan aside for the caramel to cool slightly.
- Start making the cake batter.
Cake Batter
- Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg powder. Set it aside.
- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter at medium speed for 1 minute. You can use a stand mixer or a hand mixer.
- Add the sugar and beat together with the butter for another minute, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Scrape the bowl every so often to ensure everything is getting nicely incorporated together.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding the next egg.
- Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add half of the dry ingredient mixture to the bowl and mix on low.
- Pour the buttermilk in and mix until incorporated.
- Add the remaining dry ingredient mixture and mix on low to combine. You can also use the spatula instead of the mixer to fold the batter during this final stage. Avoid over mixing, to prevent the cake from turning out dry.
- Spread the batter on the bottom of the prepared cake pan, over the cooled caramel and apple mixture.
- Use a spatula to spread out the batter evenly.
Baking
- Bake the cake in pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes (depending on your oven it can take longer). If the cake is browning too much towards the final 5 minutes, and the center is not yet cooked, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil.
- You will know the cake is done baking when you touch the top of the cake and doesn’t feel soft or jiggly, and your finger doesn’t sink in. Also insert a toothpick in the cake, and should come out clean, without any gooey batter attached.
- Let the cake cool down for about 15 minutes, then flip onto a plate. It’s important to remove the cake from the pan before the caramel has a chance to harden, but the cake can’t be too hot either. You should be able to hold the pan in your hands, but it should still feel warm.
- Let the cake cool down another 20 to 25 minutes before slicing and serving.
Storage
- Store the cake in an air tight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.
- You can also store it in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If storing in the fridge, let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
About baking: if using a convection oven bake at 325ºF instead of 350ºF. Baking time will vary depending on cake pan size and on your oven. Make sure to start checking at around 30 minutes, so you don't end up over baking the cake.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, simply add a teaspoon of vinegar to regular milk, let it sit for 2 minutes, and use in the recipe.
Buttermilk alternative: Another buttermilk alternative is to make the cake with a combination of sour cream and milk. Use 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/4 cup of milk in the recipe instead of the buttermilk.
Apples: Here are my favorite apples for making cake: Gala apples, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Fuji, or Pink Lady.
Corn syrup: The corn syrup or glucose is actually optional, but it helps the caramel not become crystallized. The corn syrup contains long chains of glucose molecules that help keep the sucrose molecules in the candy syrup from crystallizing. You can use light glucose syrup, corn syrup, or invert sugar, which are all types of glucose.
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal