Apple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cakes

From the kitchen of Carly

Caramelized apples and toasted walnuts hide beneath a tender cornmeal cake that flips dramatically onto your plate. The crispy-edged fruit topping contrasts beautifully with the soft, slightly nutty crumb. Warm from the oven, these individual cakes demand nothing but butter and coffee.

Apple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cakes

Warm apples caramelized in brown sugar and butter hit a tender, crumbly cornmeal cake as soon as it flips from the pan. The cornmeal gives you texture that regular cake can't touch, and the trick is leaving those pea-size butter pieces intact in the dry mix so they steam into tiny pockets of richness. Four cakes feed four people, simple math, and the whole thing takes less than an hour.

Prep
n/a
Cook
n/a
Total
n/a
Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 3/4 stickcold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces, plus additional for greasing
  • 3Gala apples
  • 1/3 cuppacked light brown sugar
  • 1 tspfresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cupcoarsely chopped walnuts
  • 3/4 cupall-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cupyellow cornmeal
  • 1/3 cupgranulated sugar
  • 2 tspbaking powder
  • 1/4 tspsalt
  • 1 largeegg
  • 3/4 cupwhole milk
  • 1lightly sweetened whipped cream
  • 1a muffin pan with 6 muffin cups

Instructions

  1. Position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Grease all 6 muffin cups with butter, then peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/3-inch dice.

  2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, waiting until the foam settles before adding the apples, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces to a sticky glaze and the apples are tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

  3. Fold in the walnuts, then spoon the apple mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups.

  4. In a food processor, pulse the flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Scatter in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with a few pea-size butter lumps scattered throughout.

  5. Pour the egg and milk into a large bowl and whisk them together. Add the flour mixture and whisk until just combined, stopping as soon as no dry streaks remain.

  6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake until the tops are golden and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

  7. Loosen each cake by running a paring knife around its edge. Place a rack over the muffin pan, then flip the whole thing so the cakes land apple-side up on the rack. Serve warm with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Don't skip dicing the apples small (1/3 inch). They cook down faster and distribute more evenly in the glaze, which prevents soggy bottoms when you invert.
  • Pulse the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor but stop when you still see pea-size lumps. Overmixing deflates the crumb and makes the cake dense.
  • Run a warm knife around the edge of each cake before inverting. A cold knife will stick and break the apple topping right off the cake.

Variations

  • Swap the walnuts for toasted pecans or skip them entirely if you want cleaner apple flavor and less texture competition.
  • Use pears instead of apples and add 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom to the apple mixture for a softer, spiced take.
  • Make one large upside-down cake in a cast iron skillet instead of individual cakes, baking for 20 to 25 minutes and slicing into wedges at the table.

Make ahead and storage

Store cooled cakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. They're best served warm, so reheat gently in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes if you're keeping them longer.