It’s time again for the recipe that caught my attention from the 1940 cookbook my Grandma handed down. This month I saw a recipe for an Apple Upside-Down Cake. I changed it up a bit and it was delicious.
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large apples
- 1 1/2 cups Spelt flour or flour of your choice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup water
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- To make the caramel - Melt 1/4 cup butter in oven proof skillet or baking pan. Add 1 cup of brown sugar and stir until melted. Cool.
- Peel, core and slice apples. Place on top of caramel.
- Sift flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter with sugar until fluffy.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add sifted dry ingredients and water, alternately in small amounts, beating well after each addition.
- Pour over apples and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
- Turn onto a plate immediately. If this is not done immediately the caramel will harden and the cake won't release from the pan.
- Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Makes 1 9-inch cake.
Melt the butter and sugar in an oven-proof skillet or pan. I found my cast iron pan worked well.
The finished caramel will look like this. Set aside while prepping the apples.
Peel, core and slice apples and place on top of caramel.
Place the batter on top of the apples. Now it’s ready for the oven.
Flip onto a serving platter or pan when cake comes out of the oven. Be careful – it’s very hot. But this needs to be done because caramel will harden quickly and once it’s hard the cake won’t release from the pan.
I had never heard of apples being used in this type of cake. Has anyone had it before?

Wow, that looks awesome. Thanks for sharing with Let’s Get Real (I’m co-hosting this week)!
Yum! This sounds super delicious! I’ve never made one with apples before, but I have tried strawberries. It ended up a pink goopy explosion in my kitchen! Thanks so much for sharing, and your post will be featured in tomorrow night’s What’d You Do This Weekend. 🙂
Hi Ashley,
I started reading your post and thought oh – strawberries that would be a good flavor but then I read “goopy explosion” and won’t try that one. Thank you so much for featuring my recipe on What’d You Do This Weekend – I am honored. Thanks for providing a place to share what’s happening on my site.
Caramel and apples are two of my favourite flavours, this looks delicious. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
This comment made me smile. I would love to know what he thought after you make him one. Thanks for stopping by – it made my day.