Upside Down Apple or Pear Cakes

Maple Upside Down Cake

Makes 8 to 10 slices.

Topping:

• 1/3 cup dark amber-coloured maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
• 3 Bosc pears or Granny Smith Apples, peeled, quartered, cored, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Cake:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon or cardamom
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat maple syrup and sugar until mixture begins to bubble. Boil gently 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour into greased cake pan. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.
4. Arrange fruit slices over maple mixture in concentric circles overlapping each other slightly. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl in electric mixer on medium speed, beat together 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add 2 eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in 1 Tbsp vanilla.
6. In a separate bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, pinch salt. Mix well.
7. Add 1/2 cup sour cream and flour mixture alternately into egg mixture (a third of flour mixture and half of sour cream at a time.)
8. Scrape batter into pan over fruit and smooth carefully, not moving fruit slices.
9. Bake about 45 minutes or until tester inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.
10. Let cook in pan on rack 20 minutes.
11. Invert cake onto serving plate and remove cake pan. Scrape any remaining maple glaze from pan onto cake.

Large Apple Cake in a Pan

Baked in and served from a large cake pan, this cake is great to take to a large family gathering. Add powdered sugar, lemon icing, or serve while still warm with ice cream.

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 3/4 lb (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter
• 2 beaten eggs
• 6-7 apples
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Peel, core and grate apples.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

Mix in sugar.

Use a pastry blender or two forks to cut in butter.

Add beaten eggs.

Use clean hands to blend into a soft cake dough.

Spread half the dough in the bottom of the greased pan.

Spread grated apple on top.

Mix cinnamon with 3/4 cup sugar and sprinkle over apples.

Crumble the rest of the dough with your fingers, sprinkling on top of the apples (don't press it down.) 

Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 55 minutes.

Remove cake from oven.

If not serving with ice cream while warm, allow cake to cool completely.

Then dust with icing sugar, or ice.

Make lemon icing by adding lemon juice gradually to icing sugar, mixing in just enough to make a spreadable icing.

Cut iced cake in squares to serve.