Apples coated with brown sugar and butter and baked underneath cake batter in this apple upside down cake! The sticky caramel apple topping makes the cake taste amazing.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Servings: 15
Ingredients
Topping
2medium apples
1/4cupunsalted butter
2/3cupbrown sugarpacked
1teaspooncinnamon
Cake
1cupunsalted buttersoftened
2cupsbrown sugar
3large eggs
2teaspoonvanilla extract
2 ½cupsall-purpose flour
¼cupcornstarch
4teaspoonbaking powder
4teaspoonsapple pie spice *see notes for substitution
½teaspoonsalt
1cupmilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Peel and thinly slice the apples.
2 medium apples
Combine the butter and brown sugar (from the topping ingredients) in a saucepan. Heat it until the sugar dissolves, and then one minute more before removing it from the heat. Be careful not to heat the mixture too long, or it will burn. *see notes for a shortcut
1/4 cup unsalted butter, 2/3 cup brown sugar
Spread the butter and sugar mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
Layer the sliced apples over the top of the sugar mixture and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Set the baking dish aside while you make the cake batter.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
1 cup unsalted butter, 2 cups brown sugar
Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Then add the vanilla.
3 large eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, apple pie spice, and salt in a separate bowl.
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup cornstarch, 4 teaspoon baking powder, 4 teaspoons apple pie spice *see notes for substitution, ½ teaspoon salt
Add the dry ingredients and milk to the mixing bowl, alternating the two ingredients and beating after each addition. Continue until all the ingredients have been mixed in.
1 cup milk
Carefully spread the cake batter over the apples in the baking pan.
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The topping can bubble out over the edges of the pan, so put a cookie sheet underneath the baking pan to reduce any mess.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for around 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges, carefully invert the pan onto a serving dish, and allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
Notes
If you don't have apple pie spice, use 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg instead.You can save a little time and just melt the butter for the topping, mix it with the brown sugar, and spread it in the baking pan. But not heating the butter-sugar mixture in a saucepan will make the topping less gooey and caramelly.Use a crisp baking apple for this cake. Honeycrisp and Granny Smith are the most popular, but Cortland, Fuji, and Gala are also tasty.Grease the baking pan well, so the cake comes out easily.Let the cake cool after baking, but only for 10-15 minutes before flipping it out of the pan. If you try too soon or wait too long, it is less likely to come out cleanly.