Apple Upside Down Cake with Honey (gluten-free, whole grain options and dairy-free)
Amazingly moist and flavorful apple upside-down cake with honey! Can be made gluten-free, whole grain and dairy-free.
Today’s upside-down apple honey cake isn’t exactly international, but it is maybe a little multicultural! I’ve seen a few recipes for Jewish apple cakes and was intrigued. They seem to be traditionally made in a tube pan, which I don’t have, and I just made an apple bundt cake, so I thought I’d go with something smaller.
Jewish apple cakes also typically don’t involve honey, so I added a delicious honey sauce and transformed my cake into an apple upside-down cake. The original was made with all-purpose flour, but I used a mix of gluten-free flours and made another version with white whole wheat flour.
These whole wheat apple muffins also have honey in them and are a bit easier to make than this apple cake!
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, and dipping apple slices into honey is one of the food customs associated with it (you can read more about that here). I thought it’d be nice to make an apple and honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, but I got the date wrong and thought about keeping this recipe for next year.
Then, some lovely people on Instagram informed me that Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jewish people, involves fasting for nearly 26 hours, which is this week, and that this cake would be great for breaking the fast.
Thanks so much to those people! I was bummed about missing Rosh Hashanah by a few days.
This idea I had of making an apple cake every Monday (like this French apple cake or this Swedish apple pie) was a little birdbrained on my part.
Rarely do cakes ever work out on the first or second try for me. I’m rocking an average of four attempts per cake before nailing the recipe. :D But this apple upside-down cake was totally worth it! It absolutely doesn’t taste gluten-free (at least it doesn’t with the mix of flours I used) and is honestly one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten.
By the way, if you’re gluten-free, be sure to read my post on Is Honey Gluten-free?
I found the cake recipe on Smitten Kitchen, but the source is unknown. Several commenters said their mom made the exact same recip,e and one commenter thinks it came from The New York Times Heritage Cookbook. Wherever it came from, it’s magical.
Let’s see where I went wrong.
Attempt 1: Delicious but a little too dense. I looked at my calculations again (I only made a fourth of the recipe), and I used 10x (seriously) the amount of tapioca starch I should have. Whoops.
Attempt 2: Perfect! Time for a full-sized cake.
Attempt 3: I wanted to make the cake in a 9″ pan, but I only had a springform pan of that size. Who knew that the honey sauce would leak and create a huge mess in the oven? I guess most people? ;) I sure didn’t. I took that cake and flipped it into a 10″ pan. I swirled it all together, and it was delicious.
Attempt 4: This is the version you see here. I used a 10″ closed cake pan, and I lined just the bottom with a piece of parchment paper. Everything was going well until I checked it after it had cooled for about 20 minutes. The toothpick test doesn’t work with this cake! It was still not cooked through. So back to the oven it went.
When I flipped it out, the nuts around the edges stuck to the pan. They were easy to put back on the cake, and I don’t think you could tell. However, I still recommend placing a piece of parchment paper in the pan. Not just lining the bottom, but having a full sheet that goes over the bottom and up the sides. That’s how I did the first two and fifth cakes, and it worked beautifully! That way, nothing will leak, and there won’t be any issues with nuts sticking.
Attempt 5: One last time (with peanuts instead of walnuts!) to get the correct baking time, and feeling very relieved that it’s over. :)
To my Jewish readers, have an easy fast. To everyone else – you HAVE to make this apple upside-down cake! Either that or these apple brownies with caramel frosting. Because they, too, are super delicious. :)
Not really into apples? Try this strawberry rhubarb upside down cake or this easy blueberry upside down cake!
This Gluten-free Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Noshtastic also looks awesome!
Apple Upside Down Cake with Honey (gluten-free, whole grain options and dairy-free)
Ingredients
For the honey sauce:
- 1/2 cup (160 grams) honey
- 5 tablespoons (70 grams) refined coconut oil room temperature
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups (165 grams) walnuts chopped, roasted
For the cake:
- 1 cup + 6 tablespoons (172 grams) flour see notes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) refined coconut oil melted
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs 50 grams each out of shell, room temp
For the apples:
- 4 small baking apples about 630 grams of apples, or 400 grams / 3.25 cups of chopped apples
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
For the honey sauce:
- Position the oven rack to the middle position of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and place a piece of parchment paper over a 10″ (25.4cm) cake pan (dark and glass pans aren’t recommended). Do not line just the bottom of the pan! Place a full piece of paper over the pan so that the entire thing is lined.
- Mix together the honey, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the walnuts.1/2 cup (160 grams) honey, 5 tablespoons (70 grams) refined coconut oil, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, pinch salt, 1 1/2 cups (165 grams) walnuts
- Spread the honey sauce over the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the cake. This makes it easier to spread the cake batter on top.
For the cake:
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.1 cup + 6 tablespoons (172 grams) flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted coconut oil, sugar, orange juice, vanilla and eggs. Set aside.1/2 cup (113 grams) refined coconut oil, 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 large eggs
For the apples:
- Peel, core and cut the apples into small pieces, about 1/4″ in size. You can make larger pieces if you like, but it’ll make the cake more difficult to cut.4 small baking apples
- Place them in a bowl and stir in the cinnamon and sugar.1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Add the dry cake mixture to the wet and stir just until combined.
- Remove the cake pan from the refrigerator and pour half of the cake batter over the honey sauce. It will be a very thin layer. Sprinkle half of the apples (about 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons) over the batter. Add the remaining cake batter (again, a very thin layer). It’s okay if the apple layer and cake layer blend together a little. Then add the remaining apples. Once it’s all done, it won’t look like much but it will rise a lot. The reason why I didn’t just add the apples to the batter is so that they retain their cinnamon sugar coating. I’d also be worried about the apple pieces interfering with the honey sauce layer.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until very lightly browned. The toothpick test does not work here! Once it’s lightly browned, you’ll have to dig in just a little with a fork or knife to see if it’s really done.
- Let the cake cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before inverting onto the serving plate. The cake will be quite fluffy and therefore a little difficult to get a clean piece when cutting. It’ll be easier after about 6-8 hours. After sitting overnight, the cake is a little denser and almost like a coffee cake and much easier to cut.
- Cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
- For the flour you can use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour. I made my own, which was:
- 129 grams white rice flour
- 47 grams potato starch
- 18 grams tapioca flour / starch
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- I used refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have any coconut taste. If you use unrefined coconut oil in this cake, it will likely have some coconut taste to it.
- I chopped my walnuts quite small so that the cake would be easier to cut and toasted them at 350 °F (175 °C) for 5-7 minutes.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.
- Adapted from Mom’s Apple Cake, which likely came from The New York Times Heritage Cookbook.
See now that is my problem, I never line my cake pans with parchment paper, which is probably why they stick and I have a huge mess! I love this cake. Now to get the ingredients!
Haha. Parchment paper is definitely the way to go! :)
This is one seriously gorgeous cake. I love that you kept at it and are so transparent about it. I love honesty, that way real folks know they aren’t alone in baking fails. So kudos to you.
I have some recipes like that where I have no idea the origin of them. I just know my sis gave it to me, or my mom made it. I have a fudge one I use that I want to figure out it’s origin. I’ll have to delve into google. I know my mom didn’t come up with it so I’m curious where it came from. I know her Banana Bread one is likely from Betty Crocker or something similar.
Aww, thanks. What a nice comment. :) What’s funny about this recipe is so many of the commenters said something like, “Hey, that’s my mom’s recipe!” Made me laugh. It must have been in a very popular magazine!
It certainly looks as though your determination to make the perfect apple cake paid off in spades. This is one I need to try!
I hope you will! It’d be great with white whole wheat. :)
Oh my goodness. I am so terrible with recipe fails. If I fail once, I normally don’t even try it again. It’s horrible. I admire you, and this cake looks INCREDIBLE! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning! And if you had tasted that first version, I’m sure you would have kept trying, too. ;)
I am so impressed by your recipe development process! I’ve heard that it is very difficult to adapt a standard recipe to gluten-free and I know your readers will appreciate this! Definitely passing this along…it looks amazing Erin!
Thanks, Martha! The GF thing was actually not that difficult here. It was mostly a problem of me not thinking and paying attention. ;) Ah well. It was worth it!
Girl you have way more ambition than me! I would have said see ya to this recipe idea after the 2 or 3rd failed attempt! ha. I just don’t have the patience and ability to solve an unsolvable riddle ;) If you have any tips…I am all ears! Until then I am gonna bake this cake and dive in!
Haha. But it was SO delicious I couldn’t give up!
Looks like this was totally worth all that testing! The honey-apple topping looks delicious :)
Thanks, June! It absolutely was. :)
4 attempts to get it just right…yes, that is perseverance in the name of a great apple cake! You know I’m a huge apple desert fan, so what are you waiting for? Pass me a slice! ;)
I made a fifth cake last night. Come and get it! ;)
Lol, I can SO relate to baking fails, attempted thwarted by being undercooked and just plain oops with measurements. That feeling of satisfaction and relief makes all the time and effort is worth it, right? :D This cake turned out perfect!
Haha. Well. Not all the time. ;) I sometimes just get fed up with it and give up. But here?! So, so worth it. Thanks so much for your comment, Laura!
I would take this cake any old time of year. Looks luscious!
Same here! And I can’t wait to try other combinations. I actually started last night when I made it for a fifth time. Haha. I really love this cake. :D
I’m excited to make this recipe for tomorrow. Thank you for including it it looks yummy. Since you seem interested in multiculturalism and for your interest I thought I would let you know that it is a tradition not to eat nuts on Rosh Hashanah. The tradition I heard is that you don’t want to have a hard year. Below is some information I gathered for you. Thanks again.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/746604/jewish/Is-it-true-we-dont-eat-nuts-on-Rosh-Hashanah.htm
Well gosh. I messed that up! Sorry. So many people said that they wanted to make this recipe for the holiday so I thought it was appropriate. Thank you for sharing the link! I hope you’ll enjoy the cake. :)
I appreciate how you’ve posted about all your attempts to get this recipe just right. I looks delicious, and that color of the top (I mean bottom, no top) is amazing!!!
Haha. Thanks! Hopefully it didn’t sound whiny. I just wanted other people to know that they’re not alone in the baking failure department. ;)
this looks yummy and I love how it came about
Thanks, Theresa!
I had to come running over when you said it was the best cake you ever had. It looks AWESOME!
Thank you so much! It really is amazingly yummy. :)
This looks awesome! I am SO ready to make some kind of apple dessert and I have been enjoying your posts recently and this will be what I make. This looks amazing!
Yes! Out of all the apple cakes I’ve made, this is by far my favorite. That sauce is just irresistible! I really didn’t expect it to be this delicious. I hope you’ll enjoy the cake. :) Let me know how it goes!
I absolutely love your nut top/bottom. This looks perfect and I think would be wonderful with a cup of coffee.
That first sentence made me giggle. ;) And thank you! It would be wonderful with a cup of coffee.
Oh my goodness this looks so wonderful. This is a good recipe to make for the people that are GF in the family. They can’t have chocolate so this is great. Thanks for all your hard work.
My GF treats often involve chocolate so you’re right – this would be great! I hope you’ll try it out for them one day. :) If you want to make it for yourself, white whole wheat works, too!
Yeah, this would definitely be the way I’d want to break my Fast! The cake looks so sweet and moist and amazing!
Thank you! If I ever fasted, this would definitely be at the top of my list to break the fast with. :D
Apple upside down cake is on my list! And yours looks just fantastic!
Thanks! I hope you’ll get a chance to try this one. :)
I am in love!! I love how it is gluten-free, but seriously, anything that has apples and honey is a win in my books!
Thanks, Kacey! It’s truly something special. :D
SQUEAL!!!!!!! I can’t wait to make this. I think I have all of the ingredients to get it done today!!! Thanks so much for your hard work so that we can enjoy the fruits (in this case apples) of your labor!!! -Missy
What a nice comment! Thank you. :) I hope you’ll love it as much as we do! And thanks again for all your enthusiasm for this cake! Could you please do me a favor and tell me how long you bake yours for? Just so I can make sure my baking range estimate is correct. I’d really appreciate it!