Apple Upside Down Cake with Brown Butter

Brown butter pools in the hot pan. Sugar and cinnamon go down next—smells like caramel before you even bake it. That’s the whole trick right there. Apple slices arranged like you’re setting a pattern. Then the batter covers everything and it all flips out golden, apples glossy on top like they’re lacquered.

Takes 25 minutes prep, 45 minutes bake. 1 hour 10 minutes total. Easy cake. Really easy.

Why You’ll Love This Apple Upside Down Cake

Looks like you spent three hours on it. Didn’t. Cinnamon and apple together—that coffee cake vibe, but warm and buttery and way less fussy than it sounds. Brown butter does most of the work. The topping caramelizes itself while the cake bakes underneath. Apples stay soft, not mushy. The sugar-cinnamon layer gets sticky and holds them in place until you flip it. Works as dessert or breakfast. Cold the next day, somehow better. No fancy equipment. One bowl for the batter, one for dry ingredients, that’s it.

What You Need for Apple Upside Down Cake

Brown butter. 6 tablespoons melted in a small pan until it smells nutty and tastes rich—that’s different from regular butter. Use it for the topping. The other half cup goes into the batter softened, not melted.

Sugar three quarters cup for the topping. White sugar. Cinnamon 1 teaspoon mixed with it. They caramelize together and that’s your gloss.

Apples. 2 large ones, peeled and thin-sliced. Use whatever you have—Gala, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith. Granny Smith stays firmer. Gala goes softer. Both work.

Batter needs butter half a cup softened, brown sugar a third cup, white sugar a quarter cup. Cream them together first. One egg. A teaspoon of vanilla. Milk a third cup.

Dry side: flour 1 and a half cups, baking powder 1 and a half teaspoons, salt a quarter teaspoon, nutmeg a quarter teaspoon. That nutmeg’s the twist. Don’t skip it.

How to Make Apple Upside Down Cake

Start at 345 degrees. Lower than normal oven temp—keeps the sugar from blackening while the cake’s still raw underneath.

Brown the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Watch it. The foam rises, bubbles turn golden, then it smells like hazelnuts and caramel. That’s when it’s done. Doesn’t take long. Maybe 5 minutes. Pour it straight into a 9-inch round cake pan and tilt the pan so it coats the bottom evenly, sides too if you want.

Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the hot brown butter. Let it sit there a minute. The heat melts the sugar just enough—it starts to stick together, gets glossy and dark. Smells like caramelized brown sugar already, even though nothing’s in the oven yet.

Now the apples. Peel them. Slice them thin—like a sixteenth of an inch. Arrange them in rings starting from the outside edge of the pan, overlapping like roof shingles, working your way to the center. The overlap keeps gaps from opening up where batter could leak through later. Tighter is better.

In a big bowl, cream the softened butter with both sugars together on medium-high speed. 3 minutes. It should look pale and fluffy and much bigger than it was. Scrape the sides of the bowl so nothing stays stuck.

Beat in the egg fully—a minute or so until it’s not streaky anymore. Pour in the vanilla and milk, mix just enough to combine. Don’t overmix once the wet stuff goes in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix it thoroughly so the baking powder distributes.

Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff in two batches. Stir just until no dry flour streaks show. Stop there. Overmixing makes it tough.

How to Get Your Apple Upside Down Cake Golden and Caramelized

Pour the batter gently over the apple layer. Spread it even with a spatula—don’t dig around and move the apples. You want them staying put.

Bake 42 to 47 minutes. Look for the edges starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. The top should be golden, maybe slightly cracked. A toothpick in the center comes out clean. Not a crumb. That’s done.

Let it cool for 7 to 10 minutes. This matters. The apples are still hot and need to firm up slightly or they’ll slide off when you flip it. Touch the pan with your finger—it should be warm, not hot.

Run a thin knife around the inside edge of the pan. All the way around. Separate that cake from the sides. Grab a serving plate or a cutting board, something flat and sturdy. Hold it over the pan and flip it quick and confident. The pan goes on top, the cake’s on the plate now. Wait a couple seconds. Lift the pan straight up.

Apples are on top now, glossy and dark and caramelized. The whole topping layer sits on top of the cake. It’ll be hot, so let it cool another 10 minutes before you slice it. Cold slices hold together better.

Apple Upside Down Cake Tips and Mistakes

Apple slices need to be thin. Thick ones don’t cook through before the cake’s done. Thin means they soften just right.

Brown butter—don’t skip this. Regular melted butter tastes fine but brown butter tastes like something. It’s worth the 5 minutes.

The pan temperature before flipping matters. Flip it while it’s too hot and the apples slide. Flip it while it’s too cool and the sugar sticks to the pan instead of the cake. 7 to 10 minutes is the sweet spot.

Don’t overmix the batter once the flour goes in. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cake dense and tough. Mix until the flour disappears. Stop.

Cinnamon and nutmeg together. The nutmeg sounds weird. It’s not. It rounds out the cinnamon and makes it taste like actual spiced cake, not like cinnamon candy.

You could try mixing the apple topping and cinnamon while the brown butter’s still hot, but— actually, just sprinkle it cold on the hot butter. Works better.

For an apple coffee cake version, skip the cinnamon-sugar topping and just bake the apples on top without the caramel layer. Different cake. Not worse. Just different.

Apple Upside Down Cake with Brown Butter

By Emma

Print Pin

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

45 min

Total:

1h 10min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• Sugar 3/4 cup for topping
• Unsalted butter 6 tablespoons—use brown butter for topping
• Ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
• 2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced—for layering
• Unsalted butter 1/2 cup (1 stick), softened—for batter
• Packed light brown sugar 1/3 cup, for batter
• Granulated sugar 1/4 cup, for batter
• 1 large egg
• Pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
• Whole milk 1/3 cup
• All-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups
• Baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons
• Salt 1/4 teaspoon
• Ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon—added twist for batter

Method

1. 1 Preheat oven to 345°F. Lower than standard to avoid over-browning sugar topping too fast.
2. 2 Brown butter in small pan over medium heat, watching closely, bubbling and nutty smell forms; pour into 9-inch round cake pan. Swirl to coat bottom evenly.
3. 3 Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon evenly over hot brown butter. Let sit a minute; sugar melts slightly, smells rich and caramelized.
4. 4 Arrange apple slices in concentric circles atop sugar mixture—start outer edge, overlap neatly working inwards, tighter layers prevent gaps where batter could seep in.
5. 5 In large mixing bowl, cream softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy—about 3 minutes. Scrape bowl sides often.
6. 6 Beat in egg fully; then add vanilla and milk, mix briefly to combine.
7. 7 Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in separate bowl thoroughly.
8. 8 Add dry ingredients to wet in two batches, mixing just until no dry flour streaks remain. Don’t overmix; avoids tough crumb.
9. 9 Pour batter gently over apple layer. Spread evenly, but don’t disturb fruit placement.
10. 10 Bake 42 to 47 minutes. Look for edges pulling from pan; top golden with cracked surface. Insert toothpick into center; clean means done.
11. 11 Remove from oven; cool 7 to 10 minutes. Test pan temperature with fingertips before flipping. Run thin knife around sides to separate cake from pan; flipping while warm prevents sticking.
12. 12 Invert onto serving plate quickly and lift pan. Apples glossy and caramelized on top.
13. 13 Cool further before slicing to prevent apples slipping off slices.

Nutritional information

Calories

280

Protein

4g

Carbs

47g

Fat

9g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Apple Upside Down Cake

Can I use a different size pan? 8-inch pan works but the batter goes thicker and baking takes longer. 10-inch pan spreads it thinner and bakes faster. The apples layer might be thinner too. 9-inch is the easiest.

What if I don’t have brown butter? Regular melted butter works. The cake tastes fine. Brown butter tastes better. If you have time, make it. Takes 5 minutes.

Can I prep this the night before? Slice the apples and arrange them in the pan. Cover it. Brown butter and bake the next day. The apples brown a little but it doesn’t ruin anything.

How do I store leftovers? Cover it. Room temperature for two days. Fridge for four days. Cold slices actually taste better than warm ones. The cake gets firmer and you can serve it without the apples sliding.

My apples fell off when I flipped it. What went wrong? Too hot when you flipped it. Next time wait 10 minutes. Or the sugar didn’t set enough—the brown butter might not have been hot enough when you poured it. Make sure it’s genuinely hot before the sugar goes in.

Can I make this an apple spice cake without the upside-down part? Yeah. Skip the brown butter topping. Just butter the pan. Bake the apples on top of the batter instead of underneath. Bake time stays the same. Not the same cake, but it’s still good.

Does this work with pineapple instead of apples? Technically yes. Pineapple’s wetter so it’ll release more liquid. The bottom might be soggy. Apples are drier and they caramelize better. Stick with apples.