Toffee Apple Upside Down Cake Recipes

VEGAN TOFFEE APPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4, and grease and line the base of a 23cm square cake tin.
• Core and coarsely grate 2 of the apples and finely slice the remaining apple.
• Melt 85g of the sugar and the margarine in a pan, then pour into the prepared tin. Top with the sliced apple in a single layer.
• Combine the flour, 110g of sugar, the bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, 180ml water, the vinegar, grated apple and lemon zest. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet, quickly but thoroughly.
• Roughly chop and stir in the walnuts, then pour over the layer of apples in the cake tin.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool for 5 minutes before turning out.

MOLASSES TOFFEE APPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter sides of a 9-inch square baking pan.
• In a small bowl, whisk together ⅔ cup (147 grams) brown sugar, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons (42 grams) molasses. Pour into prepared pan. Arrange apple slices in groups of 5 in alternating patterns on top of sugar mixture.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat softened butter and remaining 1 cup (220 grams) brown sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Beat in remaining ½ cup (170 grams) molasses until no streaks remain. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Pour batter over apples, smoothing with an offset spatula.
• Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pan to release sides of cake, if needed. Carefully invert onto a flat serving plate. Serve warm.

CARAMEL APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
• 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.
• 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.

TOFFEE APPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly grease and flour a 9x9-inch baking dish or cake pan using butter and flour.
• To create the topping: This mixuture goes into the baking dish first. Mix brown sugar and butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and warm over medium-low heat; stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Remove from heat and pour mixture into the bottom of the prepared 9x9-inch baking dish or cake pan. Arrange apple slices over the toffee mixture, in whatever pattern is pleasing to the eye. Set aside.
• To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar at low to medium speed until mixture is smooth and blended. Gradually blend in eggs and beat until pale and fluffy.
• In another medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, stirring gently by hand until batter is combined. Stir in grated apples and toasted walnuts until incorporated.
• Pour batter over toffee apple topping already in the baking dish or cake pan. If necessary, carefully move batter around until evenly distributed over topping. Place baking dish into a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on the accuracy of your oven. Cake is done when it no longer jiggles, is firm, and top (which will become the bottom) turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center and near edges of cake should also come out clean.
• When cake is done, remove from oven and allow to cool in baking dish for approximately 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of baking dish to loosen sides of cake. Place serving plate over the top of baking dish; holding the serving plate and baking dish firmly together, carefully invert until serving plate is on bottom and baking dish is resting on top. Gently lift baking dish from serving plate, jiggling if necessary, to loosen cake and leave it intact on the serving plate. At this point, the cake will be "upside down" with toffee apple topping showing.
• For best results, serve cake warm or at room temperature, with a side of French vanilla ice cream or whipped topping, if desired. Cake is best served fresh in one sitting, but will keep covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Gently warm before re-serving.