Brandied Apple Upside Down Cake

Cake is always welcome, but sometimes the effort of torting and frosting a cake seems a bit... much.

Enter: The Upside Down Cake!

Upside Down Cakes taste great, look classy... and take very little effort. You may be used to them in their traditional form - as a vanilla cake with pineapple slices and cherries on top.

While Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a classic, I like to veer off from tradition and have a bit more fun with it - flavouring the cake batter, varying the fruit used, even incorporating drizzles before serving.

You may have heard of my Mango Mojito Upside Down Cake - the cake that got me onto Wolfgang Puck’s Preferred Vendor List (Back when I had a cake business) AND MasterChef.

Then, there’s my French Martini Upside Down Cake - my only cake that has a talking pineapple and Jann Arden as part of its origin story.. Shockingly enough.

Another fun example is my Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake, which has a cinnamon rum cake base, Bananas Foster on top, and is just amazing.

The best part is that upside down cakes can look and taste impressive, without a lot of effort!

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Apple season us upon us, and I’ve recently posted a bunch of recipes for Apple Desserts - I figure it’s time to update this brandied apple cake.

It is, after all, the perfect dessert for fall and winter - my favorite season!

The aroma of this spiced caramel apple upside-down cake - even while still in the oven - evokes warm images of Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, seasonal get togethers, etc.

Yum!

I like to make these around apple harvest time, as a beautiful - and tasty - way to use up that bounty.

It’s also a great addition to Thanksgiving spreads, especially here in Canada. (Thanksgiving falls in early October here, which is *peak* apple season!)

Whether you make it as part of a holiday offering, as a way to end an afternoon of apple picking, or just for the hell of it, I hope you enjoy this delicious apple upside down cake!

Ingredients

This is a super simple recipe, both in the use of simple ingredients, and the fact that it doesn’t take any special skills to make.

Fresh Apples

Thin apple wedges form the design on the top of the cake, so it’s a good idea to use a hearty apple that won’t break down much in cooking.

When I’m in the mood for it, I’ll use a tart apple variety for that apple topping, like Granny Smith Apples.

Usually, I go for Mutsus or Honeycrisp, though. I generally peel the apples for this recipe, so the skin colour doesn’t matter.

Apple Brandy

I started out making this original recipe with Apple Brandy as the flavour base, but I’ve also made it with other liqueurs and spirits - just pick something that works well with the apple/cinnamon profile.

Jack Daniel’s works well, as does Crown Royal - especially the apple and maple varieties.

That said, you can make this without alcohol at all - more on that in a bit.

Flours

This recipe calls for both all purpose flour (in the caramel), and cake flour, in the batter.

Cake flour makes for a slightly more tender cake, but don’t stress if you don’t have any - all purpose flour works as well!

Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

Speaking of tender cake, I do not recommend swapping out the pudding mix, as it’s a key ingredient for the texture of this cake.

Just be sure you’re using instant pudding mix, NOT a cook and serve variety.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you’ll need:

Granulated sugar
Unsalted butter
Brown sugar
Large eggs
Cinnamon
Baking powder
Salt

... no real notes for any of those ingredients, though!

Non-Alcoholic Apple Upside Down Cake

Want to skip the booze?

Use apple cider or apple juice in place of the apple brandy in both the topping and the batter.

When not using brandy, I’ll usually add ½ teaspoon of Vanilla extract to the caramel after taking it off the heat, and 1-2 teaspoon of Vanilla extract to the batter, as well.

How to make Apple Upside Down Cake

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, this is a visual walk through of the process.

Pre heat oven to 325°F (160°F). Liberally grease a 10″ round pan with vegetable shortening or pan spray..

Cut out a 10″ round of parchment paper, using bottom of the pan as a template.

Place inside the greased cake pan, smoothing it out to cling securely to the shortening.

Make the Topping

Combine melted butter, flour, brown sugar, apple brandy, and cinnamon in a small saucepan.

Heat brown sugar mixture on medium heat, stirring until well combined. Pour into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly. Set aside.

Peel and core the apples, slice into even ¼-inch-thick slices.

Arrange apple slices on top of caramel mixture. I like to do concentric circles - the circular pattern shown.

Set aside.

Make the Batter

In a large bowl (if whisking by hand or using an electric mixer) or in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment:

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl.

Add eggs and water to the flour mixture, beating until smooth.

Carefully add apple brandy and melted butter to the mix, mixing on medium speed until smooth.

Note: Alternately, you can whisk together all of the wet ingredients in a medium bowl, and add it to the dry ingredients all at once. It’s all good.

Gently pour cake batter into the prepared pan.

I like to gently spoon bits of the batter over the apples, careful to make sure the batter isn’t making the apples slide around.

Bake and Serve!

Bake until golden and knife inserted into center of batter comes out clean and cake springs back – about 50-60 minutes.

With the hot cake still in the pan, carefully level the top by cutting off the “dome” top of the cake, over the edge of the pan.

Allow cake to cool - on a wire rack, if you have one - for about 20 minutes before proceeding.

If it looks like the sides of the cake are stuck to the pan, run a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan.

Place your serving plate upside down on the cut top of the cake, and flip it over. Gently remove the pan, peel off the parchment if it came out with the cake.

Note: Use a large plate for this - ideally with a bit of a rim/lip around it.

Serve immediately (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!), or allow it to cool to room temperature before covering the whole cake in plastic wrap.

Leftovers

Leftovers can be kept covered in the fridge for around 5 days, just let it warm up to room temp before serving. Cold cake is DRY cake!

More Holiday Recipes

Looking for more inspiration for your holiday spread? Whether Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any of the other holidays, here's a few ideas for you!

Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Chicken Based Potato Sausage Recipe - Potatiskorv
Cranberry Wine
Egg Nog Sticky Buns
Gouda Mashed Potatoes
Maple Bourbon Glazed Carrots
Mushroom Brie Turnovers
Noelles
Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Mead
Pumpkin Spice Nanaimo Bars
Savoury Mushroom Chestnut Stuffing
Southern Comfort Glazed Ham
Southern Comfort Pecan Pie
Traditional Cranberry Mousse
Traditional Pumpkin Mousse

Share the Love!

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More Cake Recipes!

Looking for more ridiculously delicious cake recipes? As the "Evil Cake Overlord", I've got you covered! (Ps: Check out my instructions for making Marshmallow Fondant, as well!)

Tortes:
B-52 Torte
Bahama Mama Torte
Blood Orange Truffle Torte
Citrus Splendor Torte
Cookies N Cream Cake
Raspberry Tiramisu Torte
Schmoo Torte
Spumoni Cake
Tiger Tail Cake

Bundt, Sheet, & Upside Down Cakes
Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake
Brandied Apple Upside Down Cake
Deep N Delicious Cake
French Martini Bundt Cake
French Martini Upside Down Cake
Mango Mojito Upside Down Cake
Pina Colada Bundt Cake
Strawberry Mango Marble Cake

Cupcakes:
3D Monarch Butterfly Cupcakes
Black Velvet Cupcakes
Chai Cupcakes
Easy Butterfly Cupcakes
Fat Elvis Cupcakes
Lynchburg Lemonade Cupcakes
Pink Grapefruit Daiquiri Cupcakes

Fillings & Frostings
American Buttercream
Milk Chocolate Whipped Ganache
Stabilized Whipped Cream
Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Also: I have Cake Decorating Tutorials, and posts about previous Decorated Cakes that I've made.