Simple and rustic upside-down apple cake with fragrant underlying flavors of cinnamon and ginger.
October has to be one of my favorite months. The slight chill in the air and the onset of festivities are truly uplifiting for the mind and spirit. It’s also a great month for baking. Well! I think all months are, but fall baking has its own charm. Oh! And did you know October is also the National Apple month! While we’re lucky to get great quality apples year-round, the fresh harvest of crisp juicy apples from winter regions, makes it almost mandatory to bake something with apples at this time of the year. For me, my go-to apple dessert is this upside down cinnamon apple cake.
The upside-down apple cake ticks all the right boxes. It’s mildly sweet with subtle underlying flavors of ginger and cinnamon coming together to create a beautiful tea-time accompaniment. Or the perfect midnight snack!
Upside-Down Layer
To make the upside down apple layer, you need to first prepare your cake pan by spreading some butter and brown sugar. This will not only caramelize the apples but also hold the layer together. Don’t skimp on the butter or sugar in this step as too little of either would mean that the layer will simply fall apart while turning over the pan.
Melt the butter and pour it into your pan, swirling it to ensure it’s coated evenly and on the sides as well.
Next sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. Do not press or use a spoon or anything else to spread. Lightly sprinkle all over and try to reach the corners.
Next, peel and thinly slice the apples, and toss it with lemon juice and cinnamon powder. Remember, apples tend to get black quickly after cutting, so do this only when your pan is ready. Tossing them with lemon juice will also slow the oxidation process.
You could arrange the apples in circles or just toss them in. However, going in a circular pattern helps arrange and take it out also more neatly. Usually the pan size allows for 2-3 concentric circles.
Set this aside while you make the batter by mixing together milk, water, oil, vanilla, and sugar. And folding in the dry ingredients – flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, some grated ginger and lemon juice.
I have also added extra chopped apples to the batter. You could skip that but I feel it really ups the apple flavor in the recipe. Even other chopped nuts like walnuts or dried fruits like raisins will go well here.
Once the batter is ready, pour it over the apple layer, trying to not move the apples in the process. Do not tap the pan, the batter will settle itself over the sides and corners.
Bake this at 180 degree C for 35-40 minutes. Let the cake cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from the pan. Ensure you remove it on a plate and gently coaxing it out to not disturb the apple layer.
Apples
Any variety of red apples would be great for this cake, Just that the apples should be fresh and ripe. Green apples would be too tart for this recipe, so I do not recommend using them.
Spices
This cake is loaded with cinnamon and ginger. The mild flavors of these spices is what makes this cake so irresistible and fall-perfect. You could also add a pinch of nutmeg powder to the batter.
This cake makes for the perfect accompaniment with a cup of tea or coffee. You can also serve it with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. Do leave your comments if you try this recipe and follow me on Instagram for more exciting recipes.
While this is a beautiful cake and totally worth the effort, if you’re looking to make something quicker with apples, try my super easy and amazingly delicious apple crumble.
Some more recipes you must try this fall
Upside-Down Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups All-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- ½ cup Milk
- ¼ cup Oil
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
- ½ tsp Ginger (grated)
- 1 cup Chopped Apples
For the upside down layer
- 1 Apple (peeled and sliced)
- ½ tsp Lemon Juice
- ½ tsp Cinnamon Powder
- 1 tbsp Melted butter
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar
Instructions
Instructions
For the Upside-Down Apple Layer –
- Place the sliced apples in a bowl. Add lemon juice and cinnamon powder and toss lightly to coat the apples well. Keep aside.
- Pour the melted butter in an 8-inch round pan and swirl the pan a few times to let the butter spread too all sides. Also, coat the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter ensuring to make an even layer.
- Arrange the thinly sliced apples over the sugar in two concentric circles, slightly overlapping each other.
For the Cake Batter
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C.
- In a bowl, sieve together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add together the water, milk, oil, vanilla and sugar. Mix till the sugar is dissolved.
- Fold in the dry ingredients. Add the chopped apples to the batter and mix well.
- Lastly add the lemon juice, and ginger, and give it a light whisk. Some bubbles may appear.
- Pour this batter over the prepared apple base in the pan. Be gentle and don't tap the pan.
- Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
I am going to try!
I hope you do 🙂
This is lovely and its admirable that’s after a laborious session of baking and photography-you are writing so well. Looking forward to read more from you!
Cheers, keep writing 🙂 keep baking and winning hearts Pooja 😉
Thank you Mansi. That’s very kind of you 🙂
That’s an easy enough recipe for a novice like me to try….looks yum and healthy for the kids…just had a question…I have a convection microwave….what settings shall I use….
Hi Purnima, I haven’t actually baked in a convection microwave but a number of people have told me that the temperature and time settings don’t differ from an electric oven to a microwave convection. I would suggest you bake at the same temperature and check on the cake in intervals starting at 10 minutes before the end time. Good luck and do let me know how it goes.
Hey! I have to bake in a 12inch pan, should I just double the recipe?
Hi Renuka, technically you can but getting out an upside down cake in such a large pan may be a bit tricky. I would recommend using a smaller sized pan for sure.
Hi just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same outcome.
Thank you for pointing it out. We’ll just check it out.
Hi pooja, can I replace refined flour with whole wheat flour and sugar with jaggery/honey?
can we used normal sugar instead of brown sugar?
Hi Swati, yes you could use regular granulated/caster sugar instead of brown sugar too