Up OR Down, It Is Wonderful!

I am extremely fond of cake and cupcakes, even more so when there is fruit or chocolate involved.  One of my favorite versions is "Up-Side Down" ANYthing with cake.  Pineapple is the normal choice in our home, but I have a large abundance of apples in the house (still not sure how that happened...hmmmm....) so they must be used.  I couldn't think of a better way to blow through a bag of apples today!

I wanted my cake to be as "deep dish" as it could get, so I used my Pampered Chef spring-form pan and wrapped the bottom in a bit of aluminum foil to avoid any drippage of the melted brown sugar & butter into the bottom of the oven...stinky...


Vegan Apple Upside Down Cake

Topping
7 small MacIntosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 c. organic brown cane sugar
4-6 T. vegan buttery spread
2 tsp. lemon juice
cinnamon

Cake
1 c. flour
1 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 c. organic cane sugar
1/4 c. organic brown cane sugar
2 tsp. egg replacer
6 T. vegan buttery spread, melted and cooled
1/2 c. soured unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract OR caramel extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peel, core and slice your apples and toss them into a small bowl; coat them with the lemon juice so they don't oxidize.

If you are using a spring-form pan like I did, wrap the outside of the bottom your pan tightly with foil.  If you are using a regular cake pan you can skip that step of course.  Grease the sides of the can pan lightly, then with a very liberal hand grease the bottom of the pan.  Toss your 1 c. of organic brown cane sugar onto that and scatter it about the bottom of the pan evenly.  Set this aside until the cake batter is ready.

In a small bowl whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and egg replacer then set it aside.  In a large mixing bowl whisk the sugar, brown sugar; then slowly whisk in the slightly cooled, melted butter.  Add the soured soy milk and vanilla or caramel extract and whisk until combined.  Add in the flour mixture and whisk until JUST combined.

Toss about 1/4 c. of cinnamon into a small bowl, roll each slice of apple into the cinnamon, then arrange it in the bottom of the pan in a spiral.  (I am not a huge cinnamon fan, so I skipped this step)

Before batter...

 
Pour your cake batter over the apples and lightly tap the pan on the counter to make sure that batter gets down to the bottom and into the nooks and crannies of the apples.  Bake the cake for 35-50 minutes OR until cake is toothpick clean.  The spread I gave on the time is allowing for wider, thinner cakes pans to be used.  If you use a regular round 10 inch cake pan the bake time will be approximately 35-40 minutes.  A spring-form is deep and stout...45-50 minutes is more realistic for how thick the cake is going to be.

After baking...

I'll admit, this would probably look more presentable and get you more "Ooo's" and "Aaaah's" if the apples are rolled in cinnamon.  They stand out better against the caramelized organic brown cane sugar after being rolled in cinnamon...really you could roll them in nutmeg, cloves, cocoa powder...anything that stands out and brings an element of flavor that matches with the brown sugar and the simple yellow cake this recipe comes up with.

 
Do I really need to tell you how fabulous this tastes?  I know, but I will ANYhow!  The cake was beautifully thick and rich and the fruit was just the perfect kiss of sweet on top.  This would be great with ice cream...caramel, cinnamon, pecan....the possibilities are endless!  Have fun!!