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Apple Upside Down Cake close up photo of a single slice on a white plate 2

Old Fashioned Apple Upside Down Cake

Old Fashioned Apple Upside Down Cake - a decades old family recipe that uses very simple ingredients to create a comfort food dessert that everyone will love; a classic Autumn dessert that's only improved by a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Course Cake
Cuisine North American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12 Servings
Calories 277 kcal
Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

For the Apple Layer

  • 6 apples peeled cored and cut into thick wedges
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup white sugar you can use light brown sugar if you prefer
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Cake Layer

  • ½ cup butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup milk

Instructions

To Prepare the Apple Layer

  1. Melt the 1/3 cup butter in a large non-stick sauté pan.
  2. Add the sugar, water and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat until the mixture gets foamy, then add the apples.
  3. Cook the apples in the cinnamon and sugar syrup just until they begin to soften.
  4. Transfer the apple slices to the prepared pan and pour the syrup from the pan over them.

To Prepare the Cake Batter

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan or a 10 inch round cake pan well.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  5. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
  6. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. In general, I add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the milk in 2 additions.
  7. Dollop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls all over the surface of the apple layer and then spread out evenly to the edges of the pan.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  9. The toothpick test is the best way to ensure that this cake is fully baked.

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.