This Upside Down Cake with Cranberries combines a tender yellow cake with a sweet cranberry topping. The beautiful red berries are a delightful contrast to the light cake.
My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in August. I can barely believe we've been married 15 years and have 5 children. I love him more now than then and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. As a newlywed, in 2003, I was pretty new to cooking on a regular basis. We got married right out of college and although I lived with girlfriends my last year I don't remember doing too much cooking. I'm sure I ate a lot of ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese. But as a new bride, I was determined to cook for my husband.
Back then, I enjoyed Martha Stewart's magazines and cookbooks. When she came out with a small recipe book called Everyday Food I eagerly subscribed. Recipes for 'everyday food' were exactly what I needed. In the December 2003 edition, there was a beautiful Cranberry Upside Down Cake on the cover with juicy cranberries soaking into the yellow cake. I make it that winter and have made it again and again since then.
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When I began my low carb and Trim Healthy Mama journey this was one of the recipes I knew I had to convert. It took me a few years to get to it because life with 5 kids can be a bit crazy, but I'm thrilled to finally add an Upside Down Cake with Cranberries to my repertoire here at Joy Filled Eats.
My Upside Down Cake with Cranberries is based loosely off of that recipe. I switched in my natural sweetener for the sugar and used the base of my Coffee Cake Muffins for the cake batter. As it bakes the butter, sweetener, cinnamon, and cranberries basically form a sugar free cranberry sauce which soaks into the cake.
If you are new to a sugar-free way of eating it can hard to navigate all the different sweetener options out there. After trying just about all of them I came up with my own blend that I use for everything. It is similar to the Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet sweetener which has xylitol, erythritol, and stevia. By using a combination of the three I am able to avoid the bitterness that can be associated with stevia and the tummy troubles that can be associated with sugar alcohols.
By adding stevia to sugar alcohols you also save a bundle. A little stevia goes a long way. Instead of using a sweetener that is 1:1 for sugar and costs $8-10 a pound you can make my sweetener for about $5-6 a pound and only need half the amount! See more information on my natural sweetener by clicking here.
How to make an Upside Down Cake
Upside Down Cakes have the topping in the bottom. For this Cranberry Upside Down Cake, I line the cake pan with parchment paper, spread some softened butter in it, sprinkle sweetener and cinnamon on top of the butter, and then put a layer of fresh cranberries.
Once that is done I mix together the cake ingredients, and spread the batter on top of the cranberry topping. As it baked the cranberries cook in the sweetener to make a sweet topping for the cinnamon cake.
Other types of Upside Down Cake
You could swap the cranberries for another berry and omit the cinnamon. I love lemon with blueberries and raspberries so I would add some lemon extract to the upside down cake recipe. If using raspberries I think frozen would work better. They are so delicate that you will end up with more of a raspberry sauce. Since cranberries are firmer you do get the bite of the cranberry even after cooking.
I want to work on a chocolate upside down cake that has a marbled chocolate top when you invert it. Doesn't that sound good? It's on my recipe idea list for this fall.
Adding pineapple to make a classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake would make this a crossover for my Trim Healthy Mama readers. Crossovers are still on plan so if you are craving a sticky, sweet Pineapple Upside Down Cake give it a try! For that, I would skip the cinnamon and mix the sweetener used for the topping with 1 teaspoon of molasses for a brown sugar taste.
What is your favorite type of upside down cake?
If you love cranberries as much as I do make sure to try my other Cranberry Recipes: Cranberry Bliss Bars, Cranberry Cake with Walnut Crumb Topping, Cranberry Baked Brie, Cranberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing, Sugar Free Keto White Chocolate Cookies, and the classic turkey day favorite Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce.
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📖 Recipe
Ingredients
Cranberry Topping:
- 3 tablespoon butter softened
- ¼ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
Cake Batter:
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ⅓ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 4 eggs
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoon butter softened
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
- Spread the three tablespoons softened butter in the bottom of the lined cake pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and sweetener. Put the cranberries in a single layer on top.
- Add all the cake ingredients to a large bowl and mix until smooth. Gently spread over the cranberries in the cake pan.
- Bake on middle rack for 30-35 min until the center is set and the top is golden. Cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake pan and then invert into a serving platter. Carefully peel off the parchment. Serve immediately or store in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Amy says
So you just mix the soft butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients? No creaming or melting? And it combines nicely? You don't have to cut it in with a pastry blender?
Taryn says
Yes, as long as they are soft it combines just fine!
Melissa says
Would this be good with a glaze (like the one for the Cranberry Bliss Bars), or would that be “too much”?
Taryn says
I think it would be pretty with a glaze drizzled on top!
Melissa says
Ok, thanks!
Jeanie Compton says
Can I substitute Baking Blend for the almond and coconut flour? If so, how much. Thanks
Taryn says
Yes, use a little bit less.
Jessica says
Can this be made ahead? If so how far and how would you best store it? Would you reheat it slightly after storing? Im looking to make this the day before Thanksgiving to cut down on how much I have to do the day of.
Taryn says
Yes, 1-2 days is ideal but you can make it up to 5 days ahead. I like it cold but you can just pull it out a couple of hours before serving and let it come to room temperature.
Jessica says
What do you think works better frozen or fresh cranberries?
Taryn says
Cranberries freeze so well that it really doesn't matter. They both work great!
Chelly says
What would you use in place of the cream cheese if you were dairy free?
Taryn says
Coconut cream should work.
Kari says
This recipe is fantastic!
Would it freeze well?
Jen says
Do you think I could bake this recipe as muffins or maybe mini bundts? The cake looks fantastic.
Taryn says
Yup! Just grease the pans very well. It might help to use liners.
Susy says
Can you tell me the sodium count please? Thank you
Taryn says
It's in the nutrition box at the bottom of the recipe.
Jennifer Farley says
A new favorite cake for sure!
Erica says
I have really come around to keto desserts and this cake is no exception! I can't wait to try this upside down cake with some fresh summer fruits - cherries sound like such a good candidate!
Kari says
This looks soooooooo yummy!!!!!
Could I sub THM baking blend?
You have a gift! Do you take orders?!:-)
Mary Sturgeon says
So I’m assuming to mix the cake ingredients in order as given in list of ingredients!?! Looks yummy? Have you ever subbed different fruit? Like blackberry or raspberry?
Taryn says
Ahhh! I'm not sure why my directions went missing. I'll edit this asap. But yes, I just mix the ingredients together. No fuss 😀
If you use berries I'd suggest using frozen ones.
Amy says
Love your recipes! I make a copycat THM baking blend - would you suggest a 1:1 substitution for the almond/ coconut flour?
Taryn says
Yes. Enjoy!
Christine says
This looks delicious. What size cake pan did you use?
Taryn says
A standard 9 inch round pan. I hope you like it!