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June 20, 2012

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Apple Upside Down Cake

I believe I am not alone in affirming that the best desserts are the ones that use simple ingredients and easy methods of preparation. Thinking of all the recipes I've made, I realise that it was indeed the simplest ones that I kept making over the years. Among these there are only a few that amazed me with their versatility and inspired me to try other versions. One such recipe is Susan Voisin's Peach Upside-Down Cake. I found it three years ago while searching for a cake batter for my vegan upside-down pineapple cake. I've made her recipe many times using different fruit and even succeeded in creating a gluten-free version which I will post soon.

The apple version was an unexpected surprise. I don't know many desserts that make the apple a star without the help of cinnamon. The amount of caramel is just enough to bring out the sweetness and moisture of the apples, and mixing cinnamon in just doesn't work well. I tried it and wasn't impressed. This refreshing dessert, with its unfrosted appearance, with a slightly dense cake at the base and a thick layer of sweet, juicy, caramelized fruit on top, is glorious in all its simplicity. And simplicity is what most of Susan's recipes have in common. Her blog FatFree Vegan Kitchen features hundreds of mouthwatering dishes. Any search for fat-free or low-fat recipes will invariably lead to Susan's blog. I wholeheartedly recommend you visit it and while there do check out her luscious, super quick and easy Chocolate a l'Orange Mousse Pie as well.

Back to our apple cake, although I followed Susan's caramel recipe in all the versions of the peach cake, on this occasion I wanted a thicker layer of caramel and more sweetness, so I doubled the amount of sugar and also added a little margarine. So here you are: a delicious, foolproof recipe that's very easy to follow and doesn't take much to prepare.


Apple Upside-Down Cake (adapted from Susan Voisin's Peach Upside-Down Cake)

Dry Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups organic plain white flour (1 cup = 250 ml)
  • 1/2 cup demerara sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt

Mix the ingredients well in a bowl. Set aside.

Wet Ingredients
  • 1 cup soy milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest

Mix the soy milk and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. Don't add the lemon juice and zest yet.


Fruit Layer
  • 3 medium-sized apples (I used Braeburn for their strong flavour; they are firm, very juicy, sweet and a little tart)
  • 2 Tb demerara sugar, powdered
  • 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Peel and core the apples. Cut them into 8-10 pieces. Place them in a bowl and coat them well with the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside.

Caramel
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 Tb water
  • 1 Tb vegan margarine or butter

Prepare a 22 cm (8.7") cake pan by lightly coating it with oil (you can also make the cake in an iron skillet, see Susan's instructions for that). This step will ensure that the fruit will not stick to the pan when turning the cake upside down.

At this point add the lemon juice to the milk and let it sit to curdle a bit while preparing the rest.

In a tall saucepan add the sugar and water and place on medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer until it thickens and starts changing colour, stirring once in a while with a wooden spoon. Once it turns dark amber, add the margarine and stir continuously until it has melted (be careful here as it bubbles up quite a bit). Keep stirring for a few more seconds, then remove from heat. Pour it into the pan and tilt it so it evenly coats the bottom. If you're using an iron skillet as Susan did, make the caramel directly in it.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).


Arrange the apple slices in the pan over the caramel to form a nice pattern.

Give the wet ingredients a stir and mix them into the dry along with the lemon zest until just combined. Don't overmix, otherwise the cake will have a very dense texture.

Pour the batter over the apple layer, making sure to first fill the gaps between the slices. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake layer comes out clean.

Apple Upside Down Cake

Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the sides for easy removal. Place a large serving plate on top and carefully invert the cake onto the plate.

Apple Upside Down Cake

Let the cake cool completely before slicing and serving.

Apple Upside Down Cake

This dessert reminds me of a childhood favourite, an upside-down cake with whole apples (peeled and cored of course). We used to frost it with plenty of whipped cream. Last time I made this cake I was tempted to frost it with coconut whipped cream, but I wasn't sure if the combination would work, since coconut has a pretty strong flavour, so I left that experiment for another time.

Apple Upside Down Cake

I hope you like this cake and come back for more versions of Susan Voisin's great recipe.

Enjoy and spread the magic!:)


I put a lot of time, effort and passion into each recipe I post. My greatest satisfaction comes from your feedback. If you made this recipe, please take a minute of your time to leave a comment below. And if you like it, please share it so that others have access to it as well. Thank you all in advance!

12 comments:

  1. Hi Adya and thank you for this recipe. My sons and I made this a few nights ago and loved it!
    We did tweek your original recipe though - Instead of 1 1/2 cups of flour we used
    3/4 cups of flour
    1/4 cup of almond meal
    1/2 cup of semolina
    Thank you again for sharing this with us! :)

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  2. Hello Helen and thank you so much for the feedback. I've used semolina in many recipes and can only imagine how great the texture was. I'm very happy you liked the cake, there are more versions coming up, I hope you'll enjoy them just as much.

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  3. Hi,

    We made this cake with gluten free self-raising flour and didn't add any extra raising agent and it was fabulous. Next time I'm going to make double the amount of caramel so that it can soak into the cake. Yum yum! I might also add a little cinnamon to the batter. Thank you. It was a great recipe :)

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  4. Cathy, that's fantastic! I'm thrilled the cake came out great. Sometimes I too increase the amount of caramel;) Thanks so much for the feedback!

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  5. I tried to make the caramel twice and it didn't work - really frustrating... I had to find another recipe for this which ended up working. This worked by adding a small amount of lemon juice and more importantly NOT to stir once it's come to a boil. I suggest removing the part that says 'stir once in a while' because when I did this it caused the sauce to crystallise, rendering it useless. Apart from this - the cake was a hit! My boyfriend even said it was the best one I've ever made - so thanks! :)

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  6. Hi Em Web, thanks very much for the feedback. I'm happy it all turned out well in the end. Sorry to hear about the caramel experience though. I have made that cake soooo many times, never had a problem with the stirring because I used a wooden spoon, as I also mentioned in the instructions.

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  7. This was a great recipe. I doubled the batter recipe as I like a thicker cake, so I adjusted the baking time accordingly. I will probably serve this with an icing sugar glaze overtop however it looks very nice on it's own as well!

    As a professional baker I agree with the above comment that you should NOT stir the caramel while it is cooking. Not only is it not necessary but it will almost always cause it to crystalize. Stir the sugar and water together before it starts to boil and then leave it alone. If you find there is undissolved sugar on the sides of the pot while it is boiling, swirl the pot gently rather than stir the sugar and you should not have issues with crystallized caramel.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks very much for the feedback and valuable input regarding the caramel:)

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  8. Can you use coconut oil instead of butter for the caramel

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  9. Hi and thank you for your question. I have't used coconut oil in this recipe, however there are many recipes online that use it successfully. I wonder though whether the cake would still have that beautiful gloss once cold, as coconut oil tends to solidify.

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  10. Is there a time how long the caramel simmers? Mine is going on 20 min ACK

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  11. Hi there, apologies for the late reply. As I remember it was about 5-10 mins. The more water, the longer it takes. I hope this helps.

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