Upside-down salted apple caramel cake

Serves 8

2 cups sugar

5 tbsp corn syrup

1 cup cream

60g unsalted butter

4 large pink lady apples

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

120g butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

Butter a 20cm round cake tin. Cook the sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is golden in colour. Reduce the heat to medium; carefully add the cream and butter, cook, stirring, until combined. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 1 minute. Pour one cup caramel into a jug and set aside. Pour the remaining caramel into the prepared tin and set aside until set. Cut three apples into quarters and cut out the cores with a paring knife. Arrange the pieces skin-side up. Halve the remaining whole apple crosswise. Scoop out the seeds with a melon baller, leaving the stem on the top half of the apple. Arrange the apple top, stem-side down, in the centre of the tin. Preheat the oven to 180C. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, orange juice and vanilla. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and pale. Add eggs one at a time and continue beating until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on low speed, add half the sour cream mixture, then half the flour mixture. Repeat. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl again with the spatula; finish combining the batter by hand. Spread the batter over the apples in the pan. Bake on the middle oven rack until the cake is brown on top and springs back when pressed (60-80 minutes). Cool in the tin on a rack. Flip over on to a serving plate. Soften the reserved caramel. Drizzle the cake with some of the caramel. Slice and serve with the rest.