Applesauce Upside Down Cake with Red Hots is a candied apple in cake form. It’s great while it’s still warm. Although it might look complicated, it’s actually a very simple cake to make.
I made some applesauce in my Instant Pot and decided to make a cake with the leftovers. As I was thinking about making it, I was reminded of candied apples. As a child, I loved getting a candied apple at Halloween. I liked caramel apples, too, but not as much as the red candied apples.
Ingredients for Applesauce Upside Down Cake
Red Hots, if you have never heard of them, are a type of hard candy made by the Ferrara Candy Company. It has a hard red outer shell and a slightly chewier inside. They are called Red Hots because of their spicy cinnamon taste. After the spicy flavor, the candy produces a sweet flavor. If you can’t find Red Hots, you can use little cinnamon candies instead.
I recommend making your own applesauce instead of buying it at the supermarket. When you make it at home, you know what’s going into it. You can follow my recipe for apple cranberry sauce to make your own applesauce in the Instant Pot.
Since cinnamon is a primary flavor, in this case, I highly recommend using the best cinnamon you can find. There are different grades of cinnamon, and Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey’s is my favorite. Vietnamese cinnamon is the strongest, richest, and sweetest cinnamon around. If you cannot find Vietnamese or Cylon cinnamon, be sure to get a new jar so it will have the freshest flavor.
Email Me the Recipe
Applesauce Upside Down Cake with Red Hots
Equipment
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Ingredients
~~ -- For the Upside Down -- ~~
- 1 Apple, cored
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- ¼ cup Cinnamon candies, Red Hots recommended
~~ -- For thje Cake -- ~~
~~ -- Add-ins -- ~~
- ¼ cup Raisins
- ¼ cup Pecans, chopped
- ¼ cup Cinnamon candies, Red Hots recommended
Instructions
- Mise en place.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 176° C.
- 1/4 cup unsalted butterFirst brush the melted butter on all sides of the pan. Be generous!
- 1/4 cup Brown sugar, 1/4 cup Cinnamon candiesSprinkle the brown sugar on the butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon candies over the brown sugar as evenly as possible.
- 1 AppleCore the apple and cut it into eight pieces. Put one slice of apple in each of the large indentations of the pan. Set the pan aside while you make the batter.
- 1 3/4 cup Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking soda, 2 teaspoon Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon Mace, 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin SpiceSift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, mace and salt together. Set that aside,.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butterIn the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until it is fluffy.
- 1 cup SugarAdd the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and very pale.
- 1 large EggAdd the egg and beat until the mixture is light yellow.
- 1 cup ApplesauceWith the mixer running on stir, add a third of the flour followed by a third of the applesauce. Mix just until combined, then add another third flour, third applesuace, mix, and the last flour and applesauce. Mix until it is smooth and completely combined.
- 1/4 cup Raisins, 1/4 cup Pecans, 1/4 cup Cinnamon candiesStir in the raisins, pecans and cinnamon candies so they are well distributed in the batter.
- Spoon the batter over the apples in the bundt pan as evenly as possible. Whack the pan on the counter once or twice to remove bubbles.
- Put the cake in the preheated 350°F / 176° C oven and bake for 40 minutes. Take a look and if it has not browned nicely, add another 10 minutes. Test it with a toothpick which should come out clean.
- Put the cake on a rack to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes. Do not remove it from the pan.
- After about 10 to 15 minutes, put a plate on the pan and carefully turn it over. Let it sit undisturbed for another 10 minutes. The cake should release during that time.
- Remove the pan. You may sprnkle powered sugar over it if you wish.
- It's ready to eat in about a half an hour while it's still warm. Enjoy!
Just wanted to come back and say I made this and it was really good. I actually was here to comment about how much our family enjoyed the Roasted Balsamic Pork Loin, and thought I should comment about this, too. I made this in February, and I’m sorry I took so long to comment. Cheers!
Hi there, I found your site via Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it looks good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks. I’ll be back to let you know how it turned out.
I don’t understand. This cake stuck all over the place. I wanted to make it for my book club, but it stuck so I couldn’t serve it. I wound up spooning it out and putting it in bowls. I put some caramel sauce on it. It was tasty, but I don’t know how I’m ever going to get my cake pan clean. I think it’s ruined.
Greetings Andrea. The best thing to do with cakes that might stick like this one is to use Baker’s Joy. Spray it on generously. Also, be sure that your oven is preheated to the correct temperature. Only let it rest long enough for you to touch the pan with a pot holder so you can turn it over. If you let it stay in the pan too long, the candy will harden. That’s probably what happened with yours. I’m glad you thought it was tasty though. If you have any questions, feel free you contact me.
Hello,
Just wanted to say this was really good. My wife made it and our kids loved it. Thanks!
Best regards, Robert
This was just lovely warmed up in my air fryer the next day with some vanilla ice cream. I’ll be making this again.
I made this for my kids for Halloween. I didn’t feel that it was safe for them to go out trick or treating, but I wanted them to have something fun for the day. We really liked this. Thanks!
This looks fantastic. I’m making this!
So, I couldn’t find red hots, but it was still very good. My kids liked it a lot.
It stuck in the pan. What did I do wrong? We took spoons and ate it out of the pan. It was tasty, but it was a mess.
Greetings Allison. I suggest using Baker’s Joy. I’ve never had a big sticking problem if I’ve used a lot of Baker’s Joy.
Everything looks fabulous!