This caramel apple upside down cake is a fall must-make. Combining a soft cinnamon-spiced cake with buttery caramelized apples, we’re essentially getting two desserts in one. After inverting, the topping’s juices seep down into the cake and add unbeatable flavor and moisture. What you’ll love most, besides the flavors, is that there’s no fancy decoration required—the lovely garnish is literally baked into the cake!
One of the first recipes I published was caramel apple upside down cake. It’s a forever favorite and totally deserving of that early spot in my archives. I bake this recipe at least once every fall season and have made a couple minor updates to the recipe over the years. The cake is better than ever. I figured you’d appreciate seeing what I’ve done!
This Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake Is:
- melt-in-your-mouth soft & moist, like this apple cake but remixed a bit!
- extra flavorful like my beloved apple cinnamon bread
- easy—no crazy ingredients or techniques required
- perfectly sized for a small family or gathering
- the best destination for your freshly picked apples 😉
Try it at least once. I guarantee it will be a repeat recipe in your kitchen. And if you are looking for even more inspiration, here is a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.
Apple Upside Down Cake Topping
The topping is baked underneath the cake. After the cake slightly cools, we’ll invert it onto a serving plate. The caramel flavor comes from the butter and brown sugar. Combined with vanilla and apples, the topping alone makes this a recipe worth repeating. It’s downright GOOD.
I know you’ll appreciate this: I mention this above, but it’s worth repeating. Apple upside down cake is basically already frosted—once you invert the cake, the garnish is already there!
A few preliminary notes on the topping:
- The topping in my original recipe had a little too much butter. I also reduced the cinnamon and put more in the cake itself.
- Melt the butter and brown sugar together on the stove, then cook for 1 minute. The mixture will slightly thicken and take on a caramel-like flavor that intensifies as the cake bakes. Not a lot of recipes do this, but it makes a big flavor difference. In my pineapple upside down cake recipe, we simply add melted butter to the cake pan and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. As a result, you don’t really get the same caramel flavor. Perfectly fine for that recipe, but why not take an extra minute here?
- Arrange the apple slices on top of the butter/brown sugar mixture. Try to squeeze as many apple slices in the pan as you can. No one has ever complained about extra caramel-y apples!
Let’s Make the Cake Batter
The cake batter is pretty straightforward and similar to the original recipe. Like most cakes, the base is creamed butter and sugar. Regular sugar lightens up the crumb, while brown sugar adds flavor. We use both in this cake. The cake is super soft and cinnamon-spiced—similar in taste and texture to apple cupcakes.
The batter differs from my pineapple upside down cake. Pineapple rings are heavier than apple slices, so we use cake flour, egg whites, and sour cream in that recipe to help keep the crumb light. Here we can use whole eggs and all-purpose flour.
Two Baking Tips:
- You can bake this cake in a cake pan or pie dish, but make sure it’s at least 2 inches deep. I recommend this pie dish, which is 1.8 inches deep but I never have an overflow issue.
- Because of the wet bottom layer (which is the topping), the cake takes much longer than a typical 1 layer cake. Its juices will bubble up the sides, creating these incredible caramelized edges. (See the edges below? They’re so good!) With upside down cakes, it’s always good practice to place a baking pan or sheet on a lower rack to catch any juices should they splatter over the edges.
Expect a Dense Cake
I’ve made hundreds of upside down cakes, or so it seems, and I say with 100% certainty that this style of cake will always be on the denser side. (Unless you are using store-bought cake mix.) The cake is served upside down. The weight of the topping, which is the bottom of the cake as it bakes, weighs down the crumb beneath it. Upside down cake will never be as light and airy as white cake. If you were to make this exact cake batter and serve it right-side-up, the cake would taste much airier. Does that make sense?
While this apple upside down cake is mega soft and not nearly as dense as, say, pound cake, it’s not overly light either. I know you’ll love its unique texture, especially paired with the caramel apple topping. Let me know how you like it!
PrintCaramel Apple Upside Down Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This stunning apple upside down cake combines a soft cinnamon-spiced cake with a delicious buttery caramel topping. Pack those apples into the pan—this cake can hold a lot and you won’t regret those extra slices!
Ingredients
Topping
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 medium apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices (1.5–2 cups, or 188–250g, apple slices)*
Cake
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons (90ml) whole milk, at room temperature*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Prepare topping first: Combine butter and brown sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until butter has melted. Cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute as mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in the cinnamon and vanilla extract. Pour into an ungreased 9×2 inch pie dish or round cake pan. (Make sure the pan is 2 inches deep. I recommend this pie dish, which is 1.8 inches deep but I never have an overflow issue.) Arrange the apple slices neatly on top, overlapping where necessary. See photo above. Place pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes as you prepare the cake batter. This helps solidify or “set” the topping’s arrangement.
- Make the cake batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add both sugars and beat on high speed until creamed together, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. On high speed, beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer onto low speed and as the mixer runs, slowly pour in the milk. Beat on low speed just until all of the ingredients are combined. Do not over-mix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Remove topping from the refrigerator. Pour and spread cake batter evenly over topping.
- Bake for 40–46 minutes, tenting foil on top of the cake halfway through bake time to prevent the top from over-browning before the center has a chance to fully cook. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean—a couple moist crumbs are OK. Don’t be alarmed if your cake takes longer or if the cake rises up and sticks to the foil. (We serve the cake upside down anyway!)
- Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for just 15 minutes. Invert the slightly cooled cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Some of the juices from the topping will seep over the sides—that’s ok. You can slice and serve the cake warm, but the slices will be messy. I find it’s best to cool the cake completely at room temperature before slicing and serving. Do not refrigerate the cake to speed up the cooling process because it could end up tasting overly dense.
- Cover leftover slices and store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature. I don’t recommend freezing the cake as a whole because the topping arrangement doesn’t thaw very nicely. See make ahead instructions below.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can refrigerate the topping in step 2 for up to 1 day. If refrigerating for longer than 1 hour, cover it tightly. Other than that, this isn’t the best cake to make ahead of time or freeze because the apples will settle down into the cake—while still tasty, the presentation won’t be as pleasing. You can, however, prepare the cake batter’s wet ingredients (cover and refrigerate) and dry ingredients (cover at room temperature) separately up to 1 day ahead of time, then continue with the recipe the next day. Let the wet ingredients come to room temperature before mixing.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Whisk | 9-inch Pie Dish | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Old Recipe: The current cake recipe was updated in 2020. If you loved the old cake recipe, originally published in 2012, here it is: increase the topping’s butter to 1/2 cup (1 stick; 115g) and add 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg when you stir in the cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of walnuts on top of the apples before pouring/spreading on the cake batter. In the cake batter, reduce the milk to 1/4 cup (60ml).
- Apples: Use your favorite variety of apple. I typically use Granny Smith, Fuji, or Honeycrisp. Here’s more on the best apples to use for baking.
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but you can use lower fat or nondairy milk if needed.
- Why is everything at room temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about the importance of room temperature ingredients.
This came out sooo nice! I’ll def be making again cheers! 🙂
I made this cake last night and it was delicious! I love the spices in the cake and the sauce is so good. I made a similar recipe once and it was extremely dense. This was an still dense like it should be, but much lighter than the one before. I am going to have to grease the sides of my pan next time. The sides of the cake stuck to it. Can’t wait to make it again!
I made this today and it was wonderful. I used honeycrisp apples, my favorites. I cooked in my pie dish because of the depth and it was perfect. I did have to cook it about 20 minutes longer than the recipe calls for but it ended up moist , spicy and delicious. We ended up eating it when it was just slightly warm ( we couldn’t wait!) and I’m glad we did. So good. Thank you for this recipe. It’s a keeper!
Hi Sally, I tried this recipe today and the cake was perfect! Just wanted to know if I can tone down on the sugar a little bit, by reducing the brown Sugar and the granulated sugar to 50g each. Will it affect the density of the cake ?
Hi Anu, reducing sugar will impact the cake’s structure and texture (as well as sweetness, of course), however I think you’ll be fine making those changes with this recipe. The cake should still turn out great, especially since you have the topping too.
I have always had 100% success with your recipes until this one. I followed your steps to the letter, baking the cake at 350 for 45 minutes. The toothpick test came out clean. After cooling 15 minutes , I turned it over. The design of the apples looked beautiful , the outside crust looked great, but it was not even close to being done in the center. Not knowing what else to do , I returned it to the oven for 10 more minutes. It still did not seem to be completely cooked. Any ideas what might’ve gone wrong ? I double-checked all ingredients and measurements , and I’m certain I did it correctly. (I served it with ice cream , and it still tasted good, anyway!)
Thanks!
It’s your oven malfunctioning. I had the same occur with other cake recipes. No warning either. Once I purchased a new oven, the issue stopped occurring. I even re-made the same cakes and they turned out perfectly in my new oven. I highly recommend a convection oven!
Hi Sally, this looks amazing however I’m not a fan of cinnamon at all, do you think ginger would work as the spice in its place?
Hi Rebekah, yes ginger would work.
I used fresh ginger as was out of cinnamon. I put it in the egg mixture stage, also added some to the topping at the end of that process. Only had whole wheat flour, added a small extra bit of soda and milk and it still turned out delicious.
Where do you get your pretty cake stands?
Hi Debbie! This one is from Pier 1. I can usually find some good ones at Home Goods or Target. I also like Crate & Barrel for something a little fancier.
Moist and delicious. The only deviation from the recipe was that I used 2 % milk…
I made this fantastic cake for my family at Christmas. I was nervous, but it turned out beautifully and we all loved it. We had it with ice cream. It was a very nice texture and not dry at all as some said. I used oat milk. Thank you for another great recipe and for explaining each step so that even a novice like me can be successful.
This is a slice of deliciousness!!! Spoiled the boys and made for Christmas Eve Eve breakfast was a hit! Followed it exactly. So easy and SO GOOD!!
I made this today in a pie dish. It came out easily after running butter knife around the edge first. It looked very pretty. We were disappointed with the flavor though. I think it needs more spice. It was a bit bland.
What are your thought about making this in a cast-iron skillet…??? I NEVER make pies and seem to not have a pie dish anywhere…
Hi SEM, I’m just seeing your comment/question now so my apologies on the delay. A cast iron skillet should be great! I recommend at least a 10 inch size.
Made shortly after you posted. It was very good and a hit. Making again for Thanksgiving instead of pie. Thinking of adding some toasted chopped pecans before the apples and finishing off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I made this today and the flavor was great!! The only problem was that the cake stuck to the sides of the pie dish (I used a 9.5 inch dish). I lost a good half an inch to the pie dish in the process of removing the cake. Any tips on avoiding this?
Thanks again! Wonderful cake.
Hi Melissa, If it was just the sides that stuck, if you try this recipe again, run a knife around the edges before inverting. That should help!
Did I miss when you’re supposed to add in the milk? I realized after I was trying to spread the batter. Ugh!
This was a great finisher to a lunch I went to today! My cake did stick to the aluminum foil tent but, it was no problem! The cake was lighter, moist, and not too sweet! It fed 7 adults and 3 small kids with small slices but I could have easily eaten half of it myself! I’ll definitely make it again!
I made this 2 days ago and, as always, it was perfect! It looked just like the picture and it tasted fantastic. Last night it was delicious again-kind of like how leftover lasagna tastes great the second day.
We have never been disappointed with your recipes after stumbling on your Coconut Cake recipe. Now our favorite cake-but there’s a lot of recipes we haven’t tried!
Thanks Sally!
The caramel apple topping is absolutely delicious! I could eat that on its own (in fact, I recommend you do!). I baked the cake for exactly 44 minutes in the same pie dish and the cake/bread part did not taste bad but it was very dry as others have mentioned 🙁 If there is a way to have a moist bread I will make this again but until then…off to the next recipe.
Made this last weekend and it was awesome! Making it again tomorrow but was wondering, can I use heavy cream instead of milk? Realized that’s all I have in the refrigerator right now. Thanks for the great recipe!
This came out dry for me. I did cook it in a cake pan and for only 35 mins. The texture is light but dry. Disappointed.
Tasted delicious but the cake came out dry after taking it out after exactly 40 minutes. It’s great as long as you make sure to get some caramel apple with every bite. But we love the taste so much we are putting this on the menu for thanksgiving dessert and will make sure to check it and take it out earlier next time.
I made these with aquafaba (of chickpeas) instead of the eggs, non-dairy butter and I replaced the apples with pears. They came out wonderful! I wonder which other recipes I can veganize …
I made this cake today and I think I am going to make it in the pie dish as suggested. I think this is a fabulous recipe but i think i should have taken it out of the oven 2 or 3 minutes before I did…. just a tad heavy/or dry but it will work and I need more apples next time. Always enjoy your recipes.
I have made this cake 3 times since you featured it last week! It is so delicious and my family absolutely loves it. It is easy to make!
Will the caramel come out ok with a plant butter substitute? I recently found out my son is lactose intolerant so will also be using mootopia milk without lactose that has proven to work well when baking other things. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, We have not tested this with plant based butter but please let us know if you try it!
I made this with plant butter and it turned out great! I can’t say how it would compare exactly to real butter but the texture was great and it was so yummy! The Caramel was a little difficult to keep together and kept separating so it took some extra whisking to get it to come together but other than that it was so good!
I made this caramel apple dessert last night (for my birthday) and it was really good!
*There are a few hints to the next baker: when the recipe says to cook the brown sugar and butter for 1 minute, that is enough, really! Don’t over cook.
*I would make more “sauce,” meaning more brown sugar and butter. There wasn’t a lot when I flipped the cake over- none dripped over the side.
*Also, I did spray my pie pan with Pam, and I’m glad I did!! Part of the cake stuck to the pan.
Overall a very tasty cake! I will make it again, definitely!!
So glad you enjoyed this cake, Linda, and thank you for including it in your birthday celebrations! Since you mention the cake stuck to the pan and the cake wasn’t as syrup-y as you’d hoped, it sounds like it may have been slightly over baked. An easy fix for next time! Try decreasing the bake time just a bit. Use a toothpick to test for doneness – a mostly clean toothpick means the cake is ready. Thank you again for giving this one a go!
I made this last night and I was quite disappointed. I have made other recipes from this site and they are always excellent (the pumpkin pie is the world’s best) but this cake is quite bland. The caramelized apples on top are its saving grace. The cake itself is only so-so. My boyfriend described it as “bread-ey.” I followed the recipe as is and I’m a very good, experienced baker. The cake has more of a light muffin texture, and it’s something I would serve for brunch rather than dessert. A buttery coffee cake would work better in my opinion. The five-star rating surprised me.
I am so agree with you! It was just so-so. I will not make it again 🙁
Fabulous dessert . The inly proem iz my British gas oven, it took 90 mins to cook, but boy , what a fantastic flavousome dessrt . My husband lovedit Many thanks Sally, from accross the pond .
Tastes incredible! Another great recipe Sally. Thanks.
You bet, Thomas! Thank you so much for making my recipe. Happy to hear you enjoyed it!
I took this too a BBQ yesterday and it was a huge hit. Thanks again for another easy and successful recipe!
Absolutely delicious…
Wow! A perfect cake for two people. I was trying to use up some apples and this was a great use of them. Very easy, followed directions exactly. Thanks and happy baking to everyone!