Cranberry-Apple Upside-Down Cake

“Sometimes you have to turn your world upside-down to see it right side up.”

I had never tried making an upside-down cake before. Seemed pretty straightforward; but the more and more I read about it, the more I realized the great question that exists with upside-down cakes – how long do you keep them upside-down (once out of the oven), before you turn them right-side up?! If you let it cool too long, you won’t be able to get it out of the pan. But – if you don’t let it cool long enough, the juice from the fruits will run down the sides of your cake! As usual, I went somewhere between what most recipes say, and let my cake stay in the pan for 11 minutes before I got too anxious to see it and had to turn it over. Here are my results!

Brown Sugar Glaze

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Stir butter in a small saucepan until melted. Stir in the brown sugar. Stir until well combined and beginning to bubble. Take off heat and let cool a couple minutes.

The Cake

1.5 cup fresh cranberries

1 apple (any kind will do)

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup apple juice

Spray 9.5 inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Cut the apple into thin slices and arrange as desired on the bottom of the pan. Add in lightly floured cranberries as desired. Pour brown sugar glaze over the fruits. (Leftover apple should be chopped into small cubes for use in the cake.)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer, mix together butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and mix again. Add sour cream and apple juice until well combined.

Add dry ingredients in three parts. Once mixed in, fold in leftover apple cubes. Pour mixture into pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let the cake cool for 10-11 minutes. Remove sides of springform pan, and then turn the cake over. Voilà!

Now go enjoy the fruits (hehe) of your labor!