Skip to Content

6 Of The Very Best Upside-Down Wedding Cake Recipe Ideas You Should Consider

Upside-down cakes have been around for several centuries at this point, dating back to a time when people would cook over open fires with cast-iron skillets and line the bottom of their pans with fruit before finally pouring batter over the top to create a delicate snack that was sweet, tasty, and very easy to make. 

6 Of The Very Best Upside-Down Wedding Cake Recipe Ideas You Should Consider

While they may have started as a quick and easy people-pleaser treat that many home chefs would whip up in the kitchen for a special occasion or a holiday, over the years, upside-down cakes have been appearing much more frequently at weddings, and considering how dazzling they look, and their very rich and succulent taste, we can’t say we’re very surprised at this emerging trend. 

With that being said, there’s not just one standard formula or recipe that must be followed to create an upside-down cake.

Instead, there are plenty of unique ways you can prepare it, depending on your taste preferences and how you want it to look, so let’s take a deep dive into a few of the very best recipes you should consider using as a reference for when the big day rolls around!

1. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

There are a few reasons why the upside-down pineapple cake is the most popular variant of this type of cake, and while the pleasant aroma and how easy it is to make are certainly important factors, the biggest reason it has become so beloved is just how sweet it is to bite into, having a very potent and rich juicy flavor that becomes very hard to resist once you try it for the first time. 

While some recipes will only use pineapple slices as the main ingredient at the core of the cake, this one also includes maraschino cherries which help to make the overall taste even more vibrant and a whole lot more refreshing, alongside adding a hint of deep red to the appearance of the cake to make it as eye-catching as it can possibly be. 

If you prepare a pineapple upside-down wedding cake, you can be sure that it will immediately catch the attention of your friends and family, who will inevitably be asking you how it was made, and if they can try a piece for themselves!

2. Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

Sweet, sticky, and a real treat for the tastebuds, this exotic twist on the traditional upside-down cake recipe uses vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a few apples to create a cake bursting with a deep and rich flavor that is sure to please anyone who has a bit of a sweet tooth. 

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of trying caramel apple before, imagine mixing that with a cinnamon spice cake, and that’s essentially what you get with this golden caramel upside-down cake.

As soon as you dig your knife into the center of this cake to kick off the wedding celebrations, you will immediately notice how firm the texture is, making it a little harder to separate than many fluffier cakes that can be found at most weddings.

However, this is a testament to just how lovely this cake is to bite into, giving you plenty to crunch down on, especially since you’ve also got plenty of apple slices packed into the middle. 

To make it more fitting for a wedding, you can either use more ingredients to pack it out and make it a little bigger, or simply make several cakes and stack them on top of one another since the caramel will make sure they all stick together like glue. 

3. Apple Upside-Down Cake With Maple Buttercream

The real star of the show in this recipe is the maple buttercream, a luscious and creamy ingredient that forms the core of this cake and is actually made from real maple syrup and Italian meringue buttercream which isn’t as sweet as regular buttercream frosting, but is much smoother and more buttery in its texture. 

It’s not just the maple buttercream that forms the interior of this cake though since it is actually made up of multiple layers containing crunchy apples and butter-rum caramel, which is all held tightly together by the maple buttercream. 

In terms of the flavor provided by this unique upside-down apple cake, it is incredibly light and refreshing thanks to the elegant pairing of apples and creamy maple buttercream, and while the texture is extremely soft and easy to bite into, if you do want to add a little extra crunch, consider mixing some grounded walnuts with the buttercream, or even simply sprinkle them over the top of the final product. 

4. Peach Amaretto Upside-Down Cake

If you love cakes that have a nutty texture that you can really sink your teeth into, you’re not going to want to miss this upside-down cake recipe which features chopped pecans sprinkled over the surface, along with a splash of amaretto liqueur to elevate the nutty flavor as much as possible while also helping to keep the cake moist so that it never dries out and becomes unpleasant to bite into. 

The thinly sliced peaches used in this recipe help to even out the very earthy and nutty texture and taste with a dose of sweetness, creating a medley of different flavors that really needs to be tasted to be believed, especially since a lot of the ingredients included sound like they shouldn’t work together, but they really do!

The ingredients used for this recipe will make it so the cake comes out at around 9 inches wide, which is definitely big enough for smaller wedding venues with fewer guests, but if you did want to pack it out a bit more, you can always double the ingredients, or at least buy them in slightly bigger quantities so that you can create a cake that fits the style and size of your wedding. 

5. Black Forest Upside-Down Cake

When you’re struggling to think of cake ideas, you can’t go far wrong with a cherry pie filling to ensure that each bite you take is sweetener than the last, and with a little bit of whipped cream and softened cream cheese to go with it, it creates a wonderful combination of refreshing flavors that goes down so well in the warmer months. 

Not only is this upside-down cake incredibly delicious, containing a very potent and deep sweetness that is complimented effortlessly by the fluffy whipped cream sprayed over the top, but it is also so simple to make that you could easily make some smaller versions after the wedding in under an hour if you can’t get enough of the taste. 

If you are stacking a few layers of this cake together to make it a bit larger for the wedding, make sure that each crispy base is a little smaller than the last as it goes up, and either pack the whipped cream in between each layer or save it for the very top, depending on what decorations you decide to place on the surface and how much space is left. 

6. Peanut Butter Banana Upside-Down Cake

Peanut butter banana toast is a food many of us will be accustomed to eating in the morning as a refreshing snack to get us out of bed and ready for the day ahead, but if you and your partner love the taste of sticky caramelized bananas, there’s no reason why you can’t take your shared love to the wedding ceremony and make it part of your cake.

The cake batter is a little thicker in this recipe compared to many others, but this simply makes each and every slice a joy to chew down on, giving you just the right amount of crunchiness without it ever coming out too stale or dry. 

As you would expect from peanut butter, the cake is very salty, sweet, and nutty in its flavor and texture, but if you feel like it is slightly too fluffy or soft for your liking, don’t be afraid to throw some dark chocolate chunks into the mix. 

It’s always worth noting that this recipe can also be made with gluten-free flour if you would prefer to use that as a substitute, and if you want the flavor of the cake to be as noticeable as possible, consider picking up some unsalted European-style butter which has a richer taste and much softer texture and will blend in with the bananas incredibly well. 

Summary

Upside-down cakes have become one of the most recognizable and fashionable cake variants in recent years, with many people transferring their love for them in the kitchen to the wedding venue, but rather than sticking with just one standard recipe, people will always experiment with different ingredients to see which upside-down cake variant they like the look and taste of the most, and you should do the same!

Try out a few of these delightful recipes today and try to identify which idea you think would work the best as the foundation for creating your own big, delicious, and symbolic wedding cake!

Anna Ingham
Latest posts by Anna Ingham (see all)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *