Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe

This moist and delicious, Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe is a fall favorite. Fresh juicy apples caramelize in butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar as they bake underneath a simple homemade vanilla cake. Once inverted, it's hard to resist the sweet and decadent syrupy topping--especially as it oozes down the cake's edges. So, so good!

It doesn't get much better than desserts with cinnamon caramel toppings, like Make Ahead Monkey Bread, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, and Peach Upside Down Cake.

But this delicious Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake recipe is my absolute favorite.

With fresh apple slices smothered in a buttery topping that's thick like honey, the taste is caramel-y sweet and decadent, and the apples always come out juicy and fork tender.

This scrumptious dessert gets better the longer it sits, mainly because this gives a chance for the fluffy, tender vanilla cake to absorb some of the sweet, buttery caramel topping.

Normally I'm a fan of suggesting a scoop of ice cream on top of apple desserts, like with Baked Apple Crisp and Dutch Apple Crumb Pie. But this luscious apple upside down cake recipe already has such a rich and flavorful caramel topping that adding more only takes away some of its deliciousness!

😍Why You'll Love This Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe

🥘Only Pantry Ingredients Needed

• salted butter- half is used for the delicious topping; the other half is used for the fluffy cake
• brown sugar- light or dark, firmly packed; along with the butter, this creates the caramel topping
• cinnamon & nutmeg- warm, cozy spices for added flavor
• apples- your favorite variety (I often use Gala or Honeycrisp for an extra sweet topping, and sometimes Granny Smith for a tart contrast with the caramel topping); peeled, cored and sliced thin
• lemon juice- used as a preservative
• all purpose flour- spooned into measuring cup and leveled
• cornstarch, baking powder & salt
• white granulated sugar
• milk- I often use skim, but any percentage will do (the higher the fat percentage, the creamier the cake)
• pure vanilla extract
• egg- only 1 is needed for this recipe; bring it to room temperature before using for better mixing

See recipe card for quantities.

🔪How To Make Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

1. Step 1: Make the caramel topping, then place in the bottom of a well greased pan.

2. Step 2: Arrange apple slices on top; sprinkle with lemon juice.

3. Step 3: Make the vanilla cake; beat egg white in separate bowl until stiff peaks form, then fold into cake batter.

4. Step 4: Pour cake batter on top of apples and bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, then invert.

Hint: Try to keep the apple slices uniform so that they bake evenly. Aim for thin slices (¼ inch thickness or less) so that the fruit is fork-tender after it bakes.

🥣Substitutions

• Cake flour - You may choose to use 1 & ⅓ cups cake flour for a softer, lighter cake instead of all purpose flour. If choosing this option, omit the cornstarch from the recipe.
• Unsalted Butter - If you only have unsalted butter on hand, you can easily use it! Just add an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the cake batter when mixing your dry ingredients.
• Milk Alternatives - Non-dairy options like almond milk or oat milk are perfect 1:1 swaps for the cake batter.

📖Variations

• Extra spice - add ¼ teaspoon of ground mace to the topping for added spice to the caramel sauce
• Pear - swap out some or all of the apples with fresh, partially ripened pears for a sweeter topping
• Salted caramel - add a pinch of coarse salt to the caramel layer; this is especially good with Granny Smith apples for a tart, salty & sweet contrast

See Peach Upside Down Cake for a summer version!

🍽Equipment

• apple peeler/slicer/corer OR fruit peeler, cutting board, and pairing knife
• small microwaveable mixing bowl
• measuring cups & measuring spoons
• 9x9 square pan OR 9-inch round pan, well greased (optional to line with parchment paper)
• large mixing bowl
• pastry cutter
• hand mixer
• small mixing bowl
• rubber spatula
• wire cooling rack

🍶Storage

Store the cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge (preferred).

This Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake recipe can also be frozen for up to 3 months, but keep in mind that the topping will be very soggy when defrosted.

❓Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe FAQ

🍎More Apple Recipes

Looking for other delicious apple recipes like this? Try these:

🍴Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake recipe:

📋Recipe With Step-By-Step Instructions

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake Recipe

Kitchen Ready Betty

Fresh juicy apples caramelize in butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar as they bake underneath a homemade white cake batter. Once inverted, it's hard to resist the sweet and decadent syrupy topping--especially as it oozes down the cake's edges. So, so good!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine American

Servings 9

Calories 320 kcal

Equipment

• apple peeler/slicer/corer OR fruit peeler, cutting board, and pairing knife
• small microwaveable mixing bowl
• measuring cups & measuring spoons
• 9x9 square pan OR 9-inch round pan (well greased; optional to also line with parchment paper)
• large mixing bowl
• pastry blender
• hand mixer
• small mixing bowl
• rubber spatula
• wire cooling rack

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 stick salted butter divided
• ½ cup brown sugar light or dark; firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 large apples Gala or Honeycrisp (for extra sweet topping), or Granny Smith (for tart contrast); peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 & ¼ cups all purpose flour spooned into measuring cup and leveled
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 & ¾ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup white granulated sugar
• ½ cup milk at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg at room temperature; separated

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375℉.
• In a microwaveable mixing bowl, melt ½ stick butter (save other ½ for cake).
• Add brown sugar and spices; mix well. Pour the mixture into prepared baking pan.
• Arrange apple slices over brown sugar mixture; sprinkle with lemon juice.
• Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in large bowl; mix well. Then add white sugar and mix.
• Add remaining stick of softened butter; cut with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Add milk and vanilla; stir until ingredients are just moistened.
• Use a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes to blend ingredients; add egg yolk and mix for an additional 30 seconds on low speed.
• In a separate bowl, beat egg white on high speed with clean beaters (whisk beaters preferred if available) until stiff peaks form.
• Use a rubber spatula to carefully fold the egg white into the cake batter; then pour batter over apples in pan.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. (Cake will be dark brown and will have some bubbles on top.)
• Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes; then loosen edges and invert onto serving plate. Let stand 1 minute before lifting and removing pan.

Notes

Try to keep the apple slices uniform so that they bake evenly. Aim for thin slices (¼ inch thickness or less) so that the fruit is fork-tender after it bakes.

Room temperature butter, milk and egg allows for easier mixing and blending of ingredients.

Store the cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 squareCalories: 320kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 134mgFiber: 2gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 396IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 87mgIron: 1mg

Keyword apple and caramel upside down cake, apple dessert, apple upside down cake, apple upside down cake with caramel sauce, caramel apple cake recipe, caramel apple upside down cake, caramelized apple upside down cake, upside down apple cake, upside down apple cake recipe, upside-down cake

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_{Please note that nutritional information is provided by a third party service and is intended for guidance purposes only. KitchenReadyBetty.com makes no claims to its accuracy.}