Apple Walnut Upside Down Cake

Gluten Free Walnut Apple Upside Down Cake

This Apple Walnut Upside Down Cake is a sure sign that spring is long gone; summer is fading fast and autumn is charging towards us like a bull.  But, it’s not so difficult to say goodbye to summer when you have desserts like this to look forward to during the cooler months.  This cake is actually a recent conversion to my gluten free recipe box.  I came up with the original recipe over two years ago for a recipe contest featuring desserts for the fourth of July.   Classic, Apple Pie is one of my  favorite all American desserts, but since my kids prefer cake to pie I decided to try something new.  I transformed a pineapple upside down cake recipe so it would mimic the flavors of an Apple Pie.  Then I called it All American Apple Pie Upside Down Cake to fit better with the Independence Day theme of the contest.  That cake turned out so well, that I took first place earning me a $100 gift certificate to my favorite cooking supply store.  It helped greatly that there weren’t many contestants.  When I converted this to a gluten free version I added walnuts to the topping and I must say that the cake is better than ever.  It has certainly  reached a whole new level of deliciousness.     

Ingredients for the Apple topping:

4 tablespoons of butter softened

½ cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 apples (cut into wedges, 12 slices per apple)

½ cup walnuts (chopped)

Ingredients for the Cake Batter: 

4 tablespoons of butter (melted)

1/3 cup milk

4oz applesauce

2 eggs

½ cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Bisquick

Video Tutorial:

Instructions for the Apple Topping:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°F  or 175 °C

2.      In a small bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir until a smooth paste forms.

3.      Spread evenly over the bottom of an 8 inch round cake pan sprayed with gluten free nonstick cooking spray. 

4.      Top this mixture with the apple slices arranged in a pattern you’d like.

5.      Sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the apple slices and set aside while you make the cake batter.

Instructions for the Cake Batter:

1.      In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar and cinnamon until everything is well combined. 

2.      Add the gluten free Bisquick to this mixture and stir until everything is well combined and lump free.  You’ll notice that the batter has a much denser consistency than most cake batters. 

3.      Spoon the batter over the apple walnut mixture being careful not to disturb the apples as you smooth the batter into place with either a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon. 

4.      Bake the cake on the middle rack of your oven preheated at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

5.      Let it cool for five minutes before inverting it onto your serving dish.  If any apples remain in your pan simply place them back where they belong.  Let the cake cool for at least 1 hour before serving. 

Note: This recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9x12 inch pan instead.

Gluten Free Walnut Apple Upside Down Cake

Who would have thought that a humble pancake mix could create such a tasty gluten free dessert.  This cake is perfectly delicious just the way it is but if you've got a few extra calories to spare you could always top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.