Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake
The BEST THING to ever come out of a Crock Pot….this Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake couldn’t be simpler to make. Sweet, tangy, tender cake, with melt in your mouth chunks of apple….this simple dessert is always a crowd pleaser.
I find myself a little confused this year…..the rapid succession of holiday changeover kind of makes my head spin. And, to be honest, I get tired of decorating for the seasons as soon as Halloween hits. I never know if it’s social acceptable to decorate for Halloween as soon as the mums pop up at the garden store OR if you’re supposed to subtly introduce fall with a brief hint of scare decor about a week or two before Halloween actually arrives. THEN, I THINK you’re supposed to take down all the halloween decor on November 1st with a heavy handed turkey/pilgrim thing going on to usher in Thanksgiving. AND, my family tradition was to barf Christmas all over the house on Black Friday. Just writing that is exhausting. So, how it usually rolls here is I do the whole fall thing with a gusto….even buying a tad too many mums that end up dying on the doorstep by the garage. Their new permanent home….currently. Then, I wait too long and throw ALL the halloween stuff at the front door on the actual day of Halloween…..which then stays there until about….now. When I’m thinking about the fact that Fox 29 is coming today and I am just a little embarrassed that I don’t have my dining room spilling over with the best Thanksgiving has to offer.
Let’s just say….I’m keeping it real. And I have totally run out of energy with the decorating. I am, however, putting up one of my Christmas trees this week because I can’t seem to get enough of the twinkle lights, glitter and cinnamon scented everything. If it were up to me….Thanksgiving would become Christmas and Christmas would become….second Christmas. Like second breakfast…and second lunch. But a holiday….and I think a lot of people would like a second Christmas. Complete with turkey, ham and Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Which is, quite simply, the very BEST thing I ever made in a slow cooker.
An old work friend of mine once told me about his wife’s newfound love of the slow cooker. She just started to love cooking and, well, dinner every night came out of the slow cooker…or Crock Pot. He was concerned because just about everything was starting to taste like Beef Stew. Which isn’t a bad thing but it’s kind of like eating cereal every single night, I suppose. And that’s one of the reasons this blog was started. Because there are other things you can make in the slow cooker….like Chili…..or this amazing pork roast braised in CHAMPAGNE….or Apple Cider FROM SCRATCH! Or this most amazing Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake.
It’s so simple to make, too. Just a few ingredients….and nothing to crazy, I bet you have everything you need in your pantry right now. Toss it into your slow cooker and then let it bake. It’s small….but mighty. Bursting with tangy cranberries and sweet, caramelized apples….the only thing that could make it better would be a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. A great addition to that Sweet Apple Pie or this Caramel Apple Bread Pudding on your holiday dessert table this year.
Get the Recipe: Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup light brown sugar, divided
- 8 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Line the bottom of a 6.5 quart slow cooker with heavy duty foil.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar over the foil. Cut 4 tablespoons butter into cubes and sprinkle over the sugar. Arrange the cranberries and apples in a single layer over the sugar.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, remaining sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to combine. Set aside.
- Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Whisk together milk, vanilla, egg and melted butter. Stir milk mixture into the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the batter over the apples. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 1/2-3 hours. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed in the center with your finger when done.
- When the cake is finished baking, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Carefully remove the cake by gently pulling it out using the foil overhang and transfer the cake to a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes, then place a platter on top of the cake and flip over. Peel the foil off the cake slowly.
- Cake can be served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dusted with powder sugar or at room temperature.
Notes
2 Comments on “Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake”
I tried to give this 5 stars, but for some reason it wouldn’t register. This is a very good cake! It was done in exactly 2 1/2 hours. Delicious! Thank you very much:)
You’re very welcome! So glad you tried it…it’s one of the most underrated crock pot cake recipes. 🙂 Always a surprise when it’s finished because it’s so good!