Fall

Apple & Maple Candied Bacon Upside Down Cake

September 26, 2009
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

Leave it to a hugely pregnant woman to find a way to turn an apple cake into an opportunity for bacon! Candy'ing the bacon helps marry the smokey, salty and sweet flavors. (While you're at it, make extra just for noshing.) The apple sauce in the batter keeps apple front and center and the cake super moist. Scrumptious! —One Hungry Mama

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Ingredients
  • Candied Bacon
  • 4 pieces thick cut bacon strips
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
  • Upside Down Cake
  • 3 apples, peeled, cored & each cut into 8 wedges
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 9 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup milk, 2% or whole
  • 2 tablespoons bacon fat (set aside from cooking candied bacon)
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
Directions
  1. Candied Bacon
  2. Preheat oven to 350. Mix light brown sugar and maple syrup into a paste. Put bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet and spread 1/2 of the paste on the top side. Bake for 10 min.
  3. Remove bacon from oven. Spoon 2 tbsp of bacon fat into a 9? cake pan & set aside. Flip bacon and slather with remaining sugar-maple paste. Return to oven for 5-7 min, until it takes on a nice dark color, but is still lying flat. (You don’t want to crisp the bacon completely since it will cook more in the cake pan.) Remove from oven and set aside, keeping oven at 350.
  1. Upside Down Cake
  2. Cut candied bacon into bits and toss with apple wedges, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a medium bowl.
  4. In a separate large bowl, beat 8 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and apple sauce until well incorporated.
  5. Turn mixer to lowest speed and mix in one third of flour mixture; then half of milk; another third of flour; remaining milk; remaining flour. Set batter aside.
  6. Add remaining tablespoon of butter to the bacon fat already set aside in your cake pan. Add 1/4 c light brown sugar. Heat over a very low flame until all of the fat is melted and sugar begins to bubble. Remove from heat and spread sugar evenly (approximately!) across bottom of the pan.
  7. Arrange prepped apples in a pinwheel on top of sugar coating, getting as much bacon onto the bottom of the pan as you can (for crispy bits!).
  8. Pour batter over apples and spread evenly.
  9. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the sides easily pull away from the edge of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let rest in pan for 15 min before placing a plate on top of the pan and flipping the cake over.
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2 Reviews

Mary P. December 25, 2012
I made this to use up some apples and because I just wanted to use some bacon in a sweet dish. I believe the cake recipe only makes enough for one 8" round cake but the recipe tells you to put into a 9" x 13" cake pan. Would be best to double the cake batter. Other than that, yummmm!
Kelsey B. September 28, 2009
I loved candied bacon, this looks awesome, even if I'm not the pregnant one. :)