Flavors by Four: Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Ooey Gooey, sticky and sweet basically sums up a piece of this Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake!! I made this for the 2nd time over the weekend and took it to a party we like to call Friendsgiving. All of my friends from high school get together and have a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We have been doing this for 3 years now and every year the party is an afternoon full of eating and drinking. Our hosts Brian & Coralee wrap their turkey in bacon and smoke it which makes it juicy and delicious. The rest of us bring all of our favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts. If you are looking for a last minute dessert to serve on Thanksgiving and you'd like to steer away from the traditional apple pie I suggest you give this decadent cake a try, it won't disappoint.

Ingredients for Cake:

2 1/2 Cup Flour

3/4 Cup Canola Oil

1 Large Apple - Peeled & Sliced

1 Large Apple -Peeled & Finely Diced

2 Eggs

1 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Apple Cider or Apple Juice

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Ginger

1/8 Tsp Cloves

Pam Spray

Ingredients for Caramel:

4 Tbsp Butter

3/4 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Adapted from - http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/

Start by preheating your oven to 350 F. In a 9 in cake pan put down a piece of parchment paper and give both the paper and the sides of a pan a good spray of Pam. Peel your first apple, cut the top off and place it in the middle of the pan. Then core the apple and thinly slice the rest of the fruit. Arrange it around the bottom of the pan around the top of the apple, overlapping the slices as much as you can to make a fan.

Now it's time to make the caramel. In a small pot over low heat combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and light corn syrup. Allow everything to melt together, stirring occasionally until it's thick and sticky. If you don't have any corn syrup the original recipe says real maple syrup can be substituted.

Once it has come together keep it just slightly warm so you are able to mix it once in awhile so it doesn't burn. Pour a 1/2 cup of the caramel over top of the apple slices that are down in your baking pan. You are going to save the rest of it to pour over top of the cake once it is done, so set it aside for now.

In your stand mixer bowl combine the oil, eggs, apple cider, spices and brown sugar. Mix on a medium speed for about a minute. Then add in your flour and baking soda. Give it another minute on a low speed to combine everything together. Gently fold in your apple pieces and then pour the batter into your baking pan over top of the caramel apple slices.

Place your cake pan on a baking sheet just in case there is any spillage. I didn't have any but unless you have a 2 in deep pan the batter will come almost to the top of the regular sized pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Take the cake out of the oven, don't worry if it's brown like this isn't not burned. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to free up any cake that may have stuck on the sides. Do not flip this until you feel it has completely cooled which could take 15-20 minutes. Once it has cooled carefully flip it onto whatever dish you are going to use for serving.

Hopefully yours will come out without any problems. The 1st time I made this mine fell apart but I think it wasn't completely cooled and I didn't spray it as well with the Pam. This time it just slide right out. If you are going to be serving or eating this cake with in a few hours drizzle the caramel over the top. If you plan to eat it the next day or later in the evening, I would wait to drizzle the caramel. It will soak into the cake and although will be just as delicious will not be as ooey and gooey or have that shiny sticky caramel feeling to it. If that's the case you will have to reheat your caramel until is it liquid enough to pour over top of the cake.