Brown Sugar Apple Upside Down Cake with Apple Cider Caramel and Spiced Walnuts

Makes one 8″ cake.

Leftover Potential: Save some of the caramel to serve over ice cream or with apple pie!

Apple Cider Caramel:

1 quart apple cider

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

1. In a large pot, bring the apple cider to a boil. Reduce heat slightly, and simmer the cider until it reduces to about a cup. Do not stir the cider after this point (it may crystallize if over-agitated).

2. Continue to reduce the cider until it begins to get thick and caramelize. When the caramel is thick and could coat a spoon, remove the pot from the heat.

3. Stir in the butter and salt. Spread half of the caramel at the bottom of a greased 8″ cake pan. Reserve the other half of the caramel.

Spiced Walnuts

1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1. Heat a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the walnuts, and toast, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and continue to cook, tossing to coat. Let cool completely before using them to garnish the finished cake.

Brown Sugar Apple Upside Down Cake

2 Honeycrisp apples, quartered, cored, and very thinly sliced (about 1/8″ thick)

5 oz butter

1 1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Fan the apples into the base of the prepared cake pan (with caramel in the base) into a circle, with the points of the apples going to the center. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping well after each addition. Add the vanilla, mix to combine.
Alternately add the milk/heavy cream and the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine.
Scoop the prepared batter the pan atop the apples. Bake at 350 until baked through, about 15-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Scoop the prepared batter the pan atop the apples. Bake at 350 until baked through, about 15-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Serve the cake warm, topped with reserved apple cider caramel and the spiced walnuts.