Recipe: Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

So I had a request earlier this week.  I made a caramel apple upside-down cake for my mom in celebration of her new job.  She's been working at a doctor's office for 10 hours/day, and I figured she deserved the cake she requested I make.

Lo and behold, I mention the simple name of it on twitter, and a bunch of people started drooling and asking me to send them a piece.  Then later people started asking for the recipe to make.  Since a lot were interested, and since I figured more people would want to get their hands on it, I've decided to post about it.  (I love to bake, so if you want a recipe for something, chances are, I've got a good one).

Unfortunately, the cake was gone before I could take a picture of it.  Anyway yeah, I've included extra instructions for the caramel (for those of you who have not made it before, like me) because it's umm... an interesting concoction at the start.

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Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake


Cake (serves 6)
Oil or melted butter, for greasing
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tblsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
generous 3/4 cup superfine sugar (I used regular)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
lemon zest of one lemon

Caramel Apple Topping
1/2 cup sugar (they say superfine, but I used regular)
1 tblsp water
4 tblsp unsalted butter
4 applies
2tblsp lemon juice


Making the Caramel

• Combine the sugar, water, and butter into a saucepan over medium (or low, up to you) heat.  Occasionally stir until melted.
  
• Contents should start bubbling (if you have on med heat).  When this happens, continually stir until most of the sugar has melted.
• Bring up to med-high, high heat and boil.
• Drop down to medium heat and let cook.  Keep stirring.
  Note: mixture will be bubbly and... frothy-looking.  Just keep stirring it.
• Eventually the mixture will start to darken in color.  Keep stirring...
• At some point, the butter will begin to separate from the sugary mixture (which should be grainy).  That was normal for me.  Stir stir stir...
• The sugar grains will melt soon after that and you'll get a smooth mixture.  Some of the butter might not have completely re-combined.  Keep stirring until it has.

The second I took it off the heat, it started to harden.  If you're making the caramel for the cake, you'll want to quickly pour it into a   You can make caramel apples with this!  Or... I guess maybe pour it into molds and let harden?  Up to you!


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with a solid bottom.

2. When caramel has been made, pour quickly into the cake pan, tilting to cover the bottom evenly.

3. Peel, core, and thickly slice the applies, toss in the lemon juice, and spread evenly over the bottom of the cake pan (I suggest cutting the apples and tossing before the caramel is finished.). 


4. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and  add the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.  Beat well until the batter is smooth, then stir in the lemon zest.  Note: I did not use the lemon zest and it was still delicious.  The cake has a cornbread texture.

5. Spoon the batter over the apples and smooth the surface with a spatula.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown.  Note: 30 minutes was more than enough time for me.

6. Let cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then turn out carefully onto a warmed serving plate.


And that's it!  I suggest you cover this once it's cooled.  We left it uncovered for most of the day and the cake was a bit dried out the following day.