I’m not even going to say anything today, because, whew.
Today I’m back at work after a delicious weekend at an apple orchard in Washington, and I think it’s pretty obvious that I’d really rather be sleeping on a pillow of this cake than putting on the ol’ black dress pants and hanging a five-point scale on a lanyard around my neck and saying things like “show five” in my pretend calm voice all day.
Personal cake day, I think that’s what they call it, and I need it ASAP.
It’s only appropriate that this recipe would come after an apple-palooza weekend and it’s only appropriate that it is an original recipe from the queen of all desserts SBA: Sally’s Baking Addiction.
If you have spent three seconds on Pinterest then I think you probably know this girlie. She’s a butt-kickin dessert baker who has worked her way out of her day job and into a job as a full time food blogger and cookbook writer because she loves you. YEAH SAL. It gives me chills. She’s amazing.
I made this cake to impress Steph when we had a dinner double date last week, and impress it did. I accidentally changed the recipe a leetle bit (distraction central) with things like salted butter, no nuts, a reversing of order of ingredients into the pan, and regular caramel turning into SALTED caramel with that sea salt on top. Sally, thanks for awesome recipe inspo. Steph, thanks for bonding over salted caramel apple upside down cake like food bloggies do. How do normal people bond again? I forget.
And friends, thanks for reading and showing Sally some love today, because we love salted caramel apple upside down cake, don’t we? ♥
Salted Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
This Salted Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake is covered with a top layer of homemade salted caramel and loaded with thinly slices apples.
Ingredients
For the sauce and topping
- 2 cups very thinly sliced apples (3–4 apples)
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cake
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Generously grease a round 9-inch cake pan. Slice the apples with a mandoline to get them super thin, like paper. Or if that’s not possible, as close to paper as possible. 🙂
- Sauce: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla. Keep over medium heat and cook for about 3 minutes until smooth and thickened slightly. Pour the caramel into the greased cake pan and top with the apple slices. Sally does this the other way around but I loved how it turned out with the caramel on the outside.
- Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Beat the remaining butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and milk and beat until incorporated. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Pour the cake on top of the caramel and apple layer in the cake pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes (Sally says 10 minutes is just right, and mine came out of the pan perfectly at 10). Invert onto a plate and tap the top until the cake comes out onto the plate. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve with vanilla ice cream. Die and go to caramel apple heaven. The end.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: caramel apple upside down cake, apple upside down cake, caramel apple cake
