Apple Upside Down Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 medium apples
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons boiled cider (or thawed apple juice concentrate)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup (or agave syrup)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (can sub half applesauce)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons boiled cider or 2 tablespoons thawed apple juice concentrate
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts) (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350°f lightly grease a 9′ round cake pan at least 2′ deep. line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment.
• 2 slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into 1/4′ thick wedges.
• 3 place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.
• 4 prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
• 5 pour 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.
• 6 to make the cake: beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed.
• 7 mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.
• 8 add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.
• 9 drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.
• 10 bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.
• 11 remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.
• 12 let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.
• 13 reheat the reserved topping. if butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.
• 14 pour the sauce over the cake. serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.