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Caramel apple upside-down cake is packed with tangy apples, rich, moist cake, and smothered in a scrumptious caramel glaze! Serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream, and it’s just the dessert you need for fall!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Beautiful: This cake is absolutely stunning! Your friends and family will be wowed by its gorgeous appearance and equally impressed by its delicious flavor.
- Fall Favorite: The combination of dense spiced cake with tart apples and sweet caramel screams fall!
- Easy to Make: Don’t let its sophisticated appearance fool you—this cake comes together quickly and easily!
Ingredients for Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake
These are all the ingredients you need for this perfect cake! It starts with your favorite fresh apples. Add the delicious spiced cake, and you have the ultimate fall dessert! Scroll to the bottom of the post for exact measurements.
- Butter: Adds fat for moisture and also gives your cake a rich flavor!
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar gives your glaze its amazing color and sweetness.
- Cinnamon: A little ground cinnamon is key for the perfect fall flavor!
- Apples: I use medium apples here, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges.
- All-Purpose Flour: Perfect for a light, airy cake structure.
- Baking Powder: Makes your caramel apple upside-down cake nice and fluffy!
- Salt: Salt is added to enhance overall flavor.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds the perfect sweetness to your upside-down cake. It also melts down when baked for the perfect texture!
- Eggs: Add moisture and bind everything together.
- Vanilla: Provides a richer flavor. I like using pure vanilla extract for the best results!
- Milk: It makes the cake batter nice and smooth. I like using whole milk because of its fat content. The more fat in your cake, the more moist and flavorful it will be!
Whipped Cream Topping
- Heavy Whipping Cream: This is the base of your topping.
- Powdered Sugar: Adding a little powdered sugar gives your whipped cream its perfect sweetness and keeps it nice and smooth, too!
How to Make Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake
Making a caramel apple upside-down cake is super easy! In just a few steps of mixing and baking, you’ll create a flavorful fall treat. It’s the perfect dessert to throw together for parties.
- Preheat Oven and Prep Pan: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9-inch round or square pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Melt Glaze Ingredients Together: In a medium saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat until melted. Then, add the brown sugar and bring it to a boil, remove from heat. Then stir in 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and pour into the bottom of the greased pan. Next, arrange the apples over the brown sugar mixture.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt, in a medium-sized bowl. Set bowl aside.
- Beat Sugar, Butter, Eggs, and Vanilla: In a large bowl or mixer, beat together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla.
- Mix in Flour and Milk: Next, beat in the flour mixture alternating with the milk until smooth. Pour the batter over the apples and spread evenly.
- Bake: Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Prepare Whipped Topping: To make the whipped topping, beat the heavy whipping cream on high until soft peaks start to form. Add two tablespoons of powdered sugar.
- Flip Cake and Serve: Run a knife along the edges of the caramel apple upside-down cake and then flip it upside down on a pan. Serve warm with whipped cream on top.
Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake Tips and Suggestions
This mouthwatering upside-down cake loaded with the sweet-tart combination of the caramel apple is absolutely delicious. As easy as it is to put together, here are some of my personal tips and tricks for getting the best results every time!
- Grease Pan Well: Use a heavy coating of your favorite nonstick cooking spray before adding apples and cake batter to your pan! Add a little more when you think you’ve added enough. This cake gets really sticky when it bakes, and fruit is notorious for sticking to the bottom. A well-greased pan will help it slide out perfectly once it’s done!
- Flavor Additions: Chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds in your cake batter are so delicious, and they taste great with the fall spices.
- Let Cake Cool: After pulling the cake out of the oven, it’s important to let it cool for 10-15 minutes. This will help it set into place! Don’t let it cool completely, though; it may become dense and hard to slide out of the pan.
- Choosing Apples: I like using tart baking apples like Granny Smith or Jonagold in desserts. If you want a sweeter cake, choose Golden Delicious or Honeycrisp apples!
- Toppings: In addition to ice cream or whipped cream, top your caramel apple upside-down cake with chopped nuts or homemade salted caramel sauce for extra decadence!
Storing Leftover Cake
Because this tasty caramel apple upside-down cake has a high moisture content, it will only last a few days. Wrap it tightly and store it in the fridge to keep it fresh for as long as possible!
- In the Refrigerator: Store your cake in an airtight container or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheating: If you want to serve your leftover cake warm, microwave it for 10-15 seconds.
More Caramel Apple Desserts
The juicy, tart flavor of apple pairs oh, so well with sticky-sweet caramel! This classic combination tastes amazing no matter what dessert it’s in! Here are a few of my other favorite caramel apple desserts to get you excited about fall!
A Reader’s Review
“I made this Sunday for a family dinner. There were four of us, and only one slice of cake left. I think it went over well!!!” -Ashley
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Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 medium apples peeled, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk
Whipped Cream topping:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round or square pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat until melted. Add the brown sugar. Bring it to a boil and remove it from heat. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour into the bottom of the greased pan. Arrange the apples over the brown sugar mixture.
- In a medium-size bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt. Set bowl aside.
- In a large bowl or mixer, beat 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla.
- Beat in flour mixture alternating with the milk until smooth. Pour the batter over the apples and spread evenly.
- Bake 55-60 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, to make the whipped topping, beat heavy whipping cream on high until soft peaks start to form. Add two tablespoons of powdered sugar.
- Run a knife along the edges of the cake and flip it upside down on a pan. Serve warm with whipped cream on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Very nice recipe
Every time I make this my apples don’t show and I can’t get the topping to come out of the pan onto the cake. What am I doing wrong?
I have used spray and flour to coat the pan. Sometimes that helps the cake fall out easily. For the apples, maybe bigger slices when adding them to the bottom. Once I pour the cake batter over top I immediately place in the heated oven.
Hi! Can you make this ahead of time? Like an hour or two?
Yes, of course!
My grandson asked me to make a caramel apple coffee cake for him. I found your recipe, beautiful cake and delicious.
This was excellent!
Do you have a caramel sauce recipe for this cake? Caramel is in the recipe title after all! Looks wonderful
You are welcome to add more caramel but it does have all the ingredients for it in the recipe. Here is the recipe for a homemade salted caramel sauce: https://therecipecritic.com/homemade-salted-caramel-sauce/. XOXO
Going to try apple cake today hope it comes out perfect
I just made two of the caramel apple upside down cakes for a nearly-autumn bake sale fundraiser. Of course, we had to try a slice before wrapping up the other pieces. This recipe is DELICIOUS! It will be one of my go-to autum baking favorites. Thank you!
That is awesome to hear! I am so glad you tried a bite!! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
Do you use light or dark brown sugar?
Usually light brown sugar for most my recipes! I hope that helps!! XOXO
Made this tonight turned out great!! My daughters insisted I make caramel sauce to drizzle over the cake (brown sugar,
I made this today. It was wonderfully delicious! Easy to make and turned out just like the picture. This is a keeper! Thank you!
I made this last week for a family get together. Going to another event and my husband begged me to make and bring it again. That is a HUGE complement! It is wonderful!!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Made it tonight for Thanksgiving…Looks and smells fabulous. I am sure it will be a huge hit!
Can nuts be added also in the cake, I plan to make this for Thanksgiving as a dessert for my family get together.
Great recipe! Turned out just as I hoped it would and was a success with my in-laws last night! Will keep it and definitely make it again. Thanks:)
I don’t bake… and this was outstanding! I used Cortland apples. Will save this recipe for sure!