kid-approved

Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

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Warm, cozy, fall-inspired spiced upside down cake with sweet caramel apples and thick caramel sauce. | nelliesfreerange.com Warm, cozy, fall-inspired spiced upside down cake with sweet caramel apples and thick caramel sauce. | nelliesfreerange.com
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cook time 1 hour and 20 minutes
yield 8 servings

Overview

This is just the thing for those chilly autumn days and abundance of apples on your counter. The caramel sauce and baked apple slices may be eye-catching, but don’t underestimate the warm, cozy flavors of that airy cake spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Be prepared for the smells of fall to take over your kitchen – the kids will be clamoring for a slice before it’s even out of the oven!

BY:Delish

Ingredients

For the caramel and apples:

  • 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup Nellie's Free Range Unsalted Butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

For the cake:

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) Nellie's Free Range Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 2 large Nellie’s Free Range Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup milk

Directions

To make the caramel and apples:

  • Preheat the oven to 350F and grease an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
  • Pour caramel sauce into prepared cake pan and layer apple slices on top.

To make the cake:

  • In another large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat together butter and sugars until softened. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until just combined. Pour in milk and mix until fully incorporated. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
  • Pour batter over the apples and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, 1 hour. Let cool in pan for at least 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.

Note:

If you're worried about overflowing, use a 9- or 10-inch round pan on top of a cookie tray or sheet of aluminum foil.

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Comments Reviews

Violet October 26, 2023

Cake came out great! The right texture and all! The apple Carmel glaze pairs nicely with the ever moist cake that is not overly sweet for its topping. I used a 10inch pan and baked at 350 for 50minutes. No spill over with mine. Thank you for a delicious recipe! It's a keeper

Nellie's

Hi Violet! We are so glad to hear this was a success for you! 💜

Delicia October 21, 2023

Think this would work in a Bundt pan?

Nellie's

Hi Delicia! Yes, this should work in a bundt pan. Let us know how it turns out.

Bev WikaOctober 18, 2023

This is truly the best caramel apple upside-down cake ever! The cake is so moist and the texture is so delicate and delicious! I followed the instructions exactly, I didn't have a round cake pan,I put it in an 8" square glass pan, decreased temp by 20° and baked 1 hour, checking to make sure center was done. Loosened edges and the cake came out perfect. Already have requests for this cake for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Nellie's

Hi Bev, thank you for taking the time to let us know how this recipe turned out for you. We're glad to hear it's a new favorite!

mary ann GarzaNovember 28, 2022

Can we use cake flour for this recipe?

Nellie's

Hi Mary Ann, we certainly think you could give it a try! Cake flour generally makes for a lighter, more airy cake. So you'd need to keep that in mind when making that decision. Either way, we'd love to hear how yours comes out!

Liz November 20, 2021

Very good recipe however I did tweak it a little bit. I added some nutmeg, cloves and ginger spices and it turned out amazing. I would also recommend lining your pan with parchment paper because some of the apples did stick to the pan on the bottom even though I let it cool down and greased it well. I also did experience the overflow I used a 9 inch pan I’m going to make it again and use a 10 inch pan and line my oven rack with foil

Nellie's

We're glad it came out amazing, Liz!

LULA MORINANovember 16, 2021

best recipe ever!

Nellie's

Hi Lula! We are so glad you like it as much as we do! :)

Mimi Rosenthal September 22, 2021

Can’t wait to make this apple cake. It looks luscious.

Nellie's

It is very yummy! We hope you enjoy!

Melina MartínezSeptember 22, 2021

Lo haré, se ve exquisito

Nellie's

¡No podemos esperar a escuchar cómo resultará, Melina!

SueSeptember 21, 2021

Looks absolutely perfect & delicious. Thanks for sharing. Will definitely make it in near future 🙏

Nellie's

We hope you love it, Sue!

MimiNovember 28, 2020

My cake came out delicious! A few apple slices stuck to the pan but I was able to carefully remove them and reattach to the top of the cake. I used a 9 inch pan, baked for 50 mins. The cake came out a bit lopsided - I hope that all the calories leaked out!

Nellie's

Thanks for trying this recipe. We are so glad to hear that, overall, it was a success. It's hard to know exactly what might've caused the unevenness as there could've been a multitude of factors (ie. uneven distribution into the pan, uneven heat in oven, air bubbles). To help prevent this in the future it might help to lightly tap the bottom of the pan against the counter before placing in the oven to ensure all the batter has settled flat into the pan then rotating pan 180 degrees in the oven approximately halfway through baking process.

MaryNovember 23, 2018

This is fabulous!! We didn't even cut into our pie - just gobbled this up! Yum!

Nellie's

We're so glad that it was a huge hit with your Thanksgiving guests, Mary! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try.

PatriciaNovember 22, 2018

I just tried this recipe and most of my apples floated to the top! Hoping it still tastes good. 🤔

Nellie's

Oh no! We're sorry that it didn't come out as expected, Patricia. We have a feeling it'll still taste absolutely delicious, though. Hope you and your family enjoy it!

MarthaNovember 20, 2018

Looks good

Nellie's

It's one of our favorites, Matha. Hope you get the chance to do some baking this holiday season!

TracyNovember 17, 2018

Ok I just made this and the batter is over dlowing in my 8" round pan. Luckily, I put foil under the pan.

Nellie's

We're so sorry that this happened, Tracy! We hope it didn't make too much of a mess. We appreciate the tip and will add a note to the recipe so that others can avoid overflowing batter and caramel.

Mary October 06, 2018

Like the recipe but I dont have a printer and the "share" button doesn't work. Also, why is it sooooooooo big? Hard to read as is.

Nellie's

We're so sorry for the trouble, Mary. If you would like to share the recipe, simply click the icon corresponding to the platform that you want to share it on (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or email). Please let us know if there's anything else we can help with!

How much did you like this recipe?

LULA MORINA

<3 <3 This recipe!