Spicy Apple Upside Down Cake

I developed this recipe because I was not happy with the upside down cake recipes I tried for the Halloween Party at work.  I was not happy with it because the cake was just bland.  The people at work seems to like it but it did not meet my standards.  So I looked up several different types of Apple Upside Down Cake recipes and borrowed from them.  The most interesting was a recipe which used a boxed spice cake and that is the direction I took for the cake layer.  This cake is full of flavor and I also decide that I would be decadent by not going low fat or skipping on the sugar.  I recommend using Vietnamese Cinnamon because it is very flagrance and taste great in any recipe.

 

Spicy Apple Upside Down Cake

 

Apple Mixture

4 cups peeled and sliced apples; I used a mixture of Ginger Gold and Wolf River Apples.
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger

 

Bottom Layer

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 pound whole pecans
Apple Mix

 

Cake Mix

1-3/4 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup butter soften
1 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

1.  Peel and slice 4 cups of apples and place them in a heavy pot.  Add cider, cinnamon and ginger to the pot.  Cook the apples over medium heat until soften but try not to over cook where they are no longer slices.  If some break up that is OK it will still taste great.  Turn off the heat when soften and allow the liquid to absorb into the apples.
2.  Grease a 9"x13" pan, line with parchment paper and grease the paper.  Spread 1 cup brown sugar and the whole pecans evenly over bottom.  Pour cooled apple mixture into the cake pan and spread it evenly.
3.  Preheat the oven to 350F. 
4.  Sift together the first 7 ingredients from the Cake Mix and put to the side. 
5.  Cream sugar and butter together.  Add beaten egg and applesauce and mix it.  Add about 1/4 of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix between each addition.  Once thoroughly mixed pour mixture into the cake pan and spread evenly.
6.  Place pan in oven for approximately 1 hour or until toothpick come out clean. 
Allow cake to cool.  The cake will be easy to turn out of the pan with the parchment.  Once cake is plated remove the paper. 
7.  Cut into pieces and serve with whipped cream.
Serves 16

This recipe was developed using the Culinary Art Institutes Encyclopedic Cookbook, 1974 Edition and a online recipe using a boxed spice cake.

Enjoy!