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Apple Upside Down Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.
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5 from 3 votes

Apple Upside Down Cake (Cake Mix)

This moist and decadent Apple Upside Down Cake is a doctored cake mix recipe that has amazing flavor from apples, spices, and brown sugar. It is the perfect recipe for fall!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15
Author: Melissa and Bebe

Ingredients

  • 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix I used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist 15.25 oz. I like to sift my mixes.
  • 3.4 oz Small Box Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • 1½ teaspoons Apple Pie Spice (3g)
  • 4 eggs room temperature (Place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes if in a hurry.)
  • 1 cup Milk (preferably whole or 2%) (240g)
  • ½ cup Vegetable Oil (we use Canola oil) (108g) (We use Canola Oil)
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract (8g)
  • 1 cup finely diced apples (105g) (We used Granny Smith. Golden Delicious is a good option too.)

For the Brown Sugar Glaze and Topping (Goes into pan first)

  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar (200g)
  • ½ stick unsalted butter, melted (56g)
  • 1-2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced to about ¼ inch thickness. (We only needed one large apple for this part. We used Granny Smith. You need enough to cover the bottom of the bundt/tube pan.)

Instructions

  • Grease (with vegetable shortening) and flour a bundt pan. Ours is a 10 inch bundt pan but a smaller one is fine also (but as a general rule of thumb, don't fill your pan more than ⅔ full).

For the Topping (Goes in pan first)

  • Melt the ½ stick (¼ cup) of butter (we melted ours in the microwave).
  • Pour the melted butter into the prepared bundt pan, and sprinkle with 1 cup of light brown sugar.
  • We used an apple slicer to slice the apple into sections, and then sliced each section into 3 thinner slices. (Remove the peel). Each slice was approximately ¼ inch thickness.
  • Lay the thinly sliced apple slices on top of the brown sugar, side by side, all the way around the bottom of the bundt or tube pan. One large apple gave us enough slices for this step, but depending on the size of your pan or apple(s), you may need a bit more.

For the Cake Batter

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  • Sift the cake mix into your mixing bowl. Add all of the other ingredients: instant vanilla pudding, 4 eggs, milk, ½ cup vegetable oil, apple spice, and vanilla extract.
  • Mix at medium speed for one minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix one more minute.
  • Fold in one cup of finely diced apples.
  • Pour or scoop the batter into the bundt pan, covering the brown sugar and fruit layers.
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Baking times may vary- check your cake for doneness as it approaches the 45 minute mark.
  • Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto your cake plate or pedestal. Place the pedestal on top the the cake pan, and carefully flip it all as one (using dish towels or oven mitts to protect your hands from the heat.)
  • Leave the bundt pan upside down for a minute or two to give the the glaze a little more time to drip down. You may still have a bit of brown sugar in your pan- that is okay!
  • Serve warm or cool. If not serving right away, it is best to refrigerate and then remove from the refrigerator 2-3 of hours before serving.