GF DFO

This apple upside down cake is actually the recipe experiment that led to the creation of the blueberry almond muffins that I posted a few months ago. In the interim, I have made the muffins countless times, but only rarely made the cake. I haven’t made this too sweet – feel free to increase the sugar if you’d prefer a sweeter cake or to change the fruit according to your preferences and what you have available. The middle of the cake may sink a bit – this isn’t necessarily aesthetically ideal but shouldn’t affect the taste or texture at all!

I used a 23 cm cake tin to make this and find it lasts at least a couple of days stored in an airtight container at room temperature. The cup measurements are all based on a 250 ml cup as equal to 1 cup.

What you need:

2 – 3 eating apples of your choice

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of brown sugar + 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (used separately in the recipe)

1/3 cup of white sugar

4 eggs

¼ cup of butter, melted (or use dairy free spread or an equivalent quantity of mild oil for dairy free) plus extra for greasing the tin

1 ½ cups of almond meal

½ cup of rice flour (white or brown)

1 tablespoon of baking powder

¼ teaspoon of salt

What to do:

1. Turn the oven on to 180°C to preheat.

2. Line the bottom of a 23 cm round cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides of the tin with butter, dairy free spread or oil.

3. Slice the apple into thin wedges and place on the bottom of the lined cake tin in a pretty pattern. Sprinkle the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar evenly on top of the apple slices.

4. To make the cake batter, in a large bowl beat together the eggs, 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar and the white sugar until very light and fluffy. I do this with my stand mixer, but a handheld electric beater would also work well.

5. Add the melted butter to the egg/sugar mixture and beat well. It doesn’t matter if the butter is still warm.

6. Add the almond meal, rice flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl with the egg/sugar/butter mixture and carefully fold in, trying to loose as little air as possible.

7. Tip the cake batter in the bowl into the cake tin and spread evenly on top of the apples, cinnamon and sugar.

8. Place the filled cake tin in the middle of the preheated oven to bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until baked (golden brown on top, pulling away from the sides and firm to the touch in the middle).

9. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes.

10. Once the cake has cooled a little, carefully place a plate upside down over the top of the cake tin and then, holding the cake tin and plate firmly together, invert the tin and plate so that the cake falls out of the tin onto the plate with the apple side facing upwards.

11. Eat the cake warm or cold (this is especially good accompanied by ice cream, cream or custard – although most sweet things are) and enjoy!