Apple Upside Down Cake with a hint of cinnamon, a delicious Autumn dessert made with a few simple ingredients. The apples are tender just melting in the mouth, and the sponge is light and has a delicate vanilla flavour. Quick, easy, a big winner every single time!
Pumpkin might be the one word that comes to everyone's mind when you think of Autumn, but to me, apples are the real heroes. They might be available all year round, but the Autumn really is the apple season. There is something so satisfying about picking up apples from an apple tree to bake all sorts of goodies.
The pineapple upside down cake is the more popular version, but an upside down cake can be baked with so many other fruit: bananas, pears, plums - my plum upside down cake is absolutely deliciou and so are my Blackberry Upside Down Cake and Fig Upside Down Cake.
Oranges, peaches, or even a combination of any of these fruit - most fruit make a great combo, so just go for what you like. And did you know you can also make these upside down cakes in a frying pan? My Banana Upside Down Cake in a Frying Pan is sheer perfection!
The cake is very easy to make, so don't feel intimidated by the perfect layers some recipes have when you browse around, they don't have to look perfect, the taste surely is perfection, no matter how it looks. I cut the apples into smaller chunks, cooked them slightly, and just arranged them on a baking tray, so minimal prep here.
The one spice that works divinely well with apples is cinnamon, they make a match made in heaven. You can go for mixed spice too for an earthy touch, but otherwise cinnamon on itself works perfectly well here.
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Ingredients needed to make apple upside down cake
- apples - any kind of apples work here
- plain flour - self-raising flour also ok
- butter - soften + more to grease the tin
- granulated sugar -caster sugar also ok
- baking powder & bicarbonate of soda - help the cake rise nicely
- cinnamon
- brown sugar - gives the apples a nice caramelized touch
- cold butter - for greasing the tin
- vanilla extract - or any other extract
- milk - full-fat is the best
- eggs - at room temperature
Step-by-step photos and instructions
Cooking the apples beforehand ensures that they are perfectly tender and juicy when the cake is turned upside down, so I highly recommend not skipping this step.
- peel, core and cut the apples into small chunks
- melt the butter into a sauce pan, add the apple chunks together with the brown sugar and cinnamon
- toss well, add the water, and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes until the apples are slightly tender and the liquid is nearly evaporated
- butter a baking tray with non-detachable walls, spread the cooked apples in a single layer
- in a food processor, add the soft butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, baking and bicarb of soda
- blitz well until you get a smooth paste
- pour the batter over the apples, and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
- use a sharp knife to run around the edges of the cake, place a plate on top of the tin, and turn it over in a swift move
- leave to cool before slicing
Expert tips
This cake is an absolute favourite of mine in the Fall season. The apples are perfectly spiced and the sponge is light and moist, bursting with flavours. It's the perfect dessert to have on a crisp Autumn's day watching the leaves fall. As much as a love summer and is heat, I just love the colours of Autumn.
As for the cake, it's as easy as it is delicious. A few tips here, make sure you butter the cake tin really well, if the apples stick to the bottom of the tin, the top will be rather messy and it will lack the main ingredients.
My heart-shaped cake tin is approximately 21 cm/8.5 inches long, and the cake has a really good height, so adjust the amount of ingredients used if your tin is larger/smaller.
You can dust it with icing sugar once it cools down, but the cake is sweet enough without, that's more to do with the aspect of the cake, rather than taste. Otherwise, enjoy it, it's so good!
If you’ve tried my APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Apple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples
- 100 g plain flour
- 100 g butter, soften + more to grease the tin
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 25 g cold butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon milk
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Peel, core and chop the apples in smaller chunks.
- Melt the cold butter in a sauce pan, add the chopped apples together with the brown sugar, cinnamon and half a cup of water.
- Leave to cook for 3-4 minutes until the apples are slightly tender, and the liquid is evaporated.
- Butter a cake tin (non-detachable walls) well with butter, and arrange the apples in a single layer.
- In a food processor, add the flour, granulated sugar, soften butter, baking power, bicarb of soda, eggs, vanilla extract and milk.
- Blitz well until you get a smooth paste.
- Pour the batter over the apples, and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake, place a large plate on top, and turn the cake upside down in a swift move.
- Leave to cool before slicing.
Notes
- Click on the US Customary link to see the measurements displayed in cups and ounces.
- The servings can be adjusted by clicking the number next to Servings.
- Make sure you butter the cake tin really well, if the apples stick to the bottom of the tin, the top will be rather messy and it will lack the main ingredients.
- My heart-shaped cake tin is approximately 21 cm/8.5 inches long, and the cake has a really good height, so adjust the amount of ingredients used if your tin is larger/smaller.
Nutrition
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Mimi says
Delicious cake but I have a few queries: Did you mean to cook the apples for 30-40 mins? bc recipe says to cook for 3-4 mins until the liquid evaporates but it took 30 mins for me on full heat! I used a 9 inch pan bc i wasnt sure what size to use and it was definitely too big for the tiny amount of batter. Also 6 medium apples were wayyyy too much specially if i make it in a smaller pan next time to get more height that would be too many apples. The actual cake part is super yummy tho! But I would request u to please add a pan size for a circular pan and the amount of apples in grams to make the recipe more accurate:)
Paul Thomas says
Hi,followed the recipe to the letter,but,it just will not cook,checked after 35 minutes and still uncooked sponge seemed ok when I checked so thought it was cooked through,went to serve and the middle was still liquid,put it back in the oven and I will see what happens,or I will try again,thanks.
Daniela Apostol says
Hi! Have you cooked the apples well? If they were watery still, they might have added too much liquid to the batter, and changed its consistency.
Johnny says
Delicious reminder of grandma’s gâteau. You can add a dash of cognac or rum for flavour.
Corrie Duffy says
This was delicious! Definitely going to become a holiday staple in my house. Do you think this recipe would be good with peaches? I have a ton of peaches given to me by someone and I don’t really care for peach cobbler. Thank you!!
Daniela Apostol says
I am very happy that you enjoyed the cake, we all love it! Yes, peaches will definitely work too, worth giving them a go!
Ella says
Lovely cake and very easy to make. Made two small cakes, one as a gift and one for the family. The family gobbled it up very quickly. Will be making it again and again. Cooking the apples first made the top nice and caramelized, tart tatin like, but the sponge is nicer than the classic tatin's puff pastry. Thank you 😊!
Daniela Apostol says
I am glad you liked this recipe, I can't wait to make it again too.
Anita Flynn says
Absolutely beautiful with fresh whipped cream