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Bacon is one of those foods that’s hard to resist once you smell it frying. While you might love bacon on a BLT or for breakfast with eggs, bacon has also been making it into desserts lately. From chocolate bars to toffee, bacon adds that rich mouthfeel and salty, smoky twist to desserts that takes a sweet treat from good to incredible. And, this maple bacon upside down cake is no exception!
If you’ve been out of the upside down game because it seems too hard, then this recipe is for you. To make things simple we used a yellow box cake as the basis and this really does save time.
To start this recipe you’ll need to cook 6 slices of bacon until they’re nice and crispy. Then remove the bacon from the pan and reserve a teaspoon of the drippings. Fry the pecans in the drippings for about 5 minutes, adding in maple syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar to the nuts. For the best flavor stick to the real deal for the maple syrup.
Bacon and pecans go well together since they have a similar texture, but we could see making this dessert with walnuts, hazelnuts, or even chopped almonds if you don’t have pecans on hand.
Pour melted butter into a 9″x13″ deep pan. We used an oval 4-quart pan for this one, so you can use other equivalent sized pans. But, whatever pan you use make sure you have a big enough flat surface to turn it out on. This can be a platter or cutting board or anything else that suits the purpose.
Add the nuts to the cake pan and then prepare the cake mix adding 1 cup of sour cream and 1 teaspoon almond extract for extra richness. Pour the cake batter over the nuts and then bake for 30-35 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edge and placing the platter or cutting board over the top. Holding the two together firmly, flip the cake upside down and set on the counter. Allow this to rest for a minute before lifting the pan away. You want all that delicious butter and syrup to soak back into the cake.
The last step is to chop or crumble the bacon up into small pieces and sprinkle over the top. This cake is a decadent treat that requires nothing else to make it utterly delicious.
For a sweet-salty combo that can’t be beat this bacon maple upside down cake is one of the best. And, it’s a must-have recipe for true bacon lovers.
Maple Bacon Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (reserve 1 tsp drippings)
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 15-oz box yellow cake mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Cook pecans in bacon drippings over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to pecans. Cook until sugar is dissolved, stirring often.
- Pour melted butter into a 9”x13” pan (or 10”x2 1/2” round pan). Pour pecan mixture over butter.
- Prepare cake batter by beating together cake mix, sour cream, oil and eggs. Once batter is smooth stir in almond extract.
- Pour batter over pecan mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place platter on top of pan and flip cake onto it in one motion. Allow pan to drain on top of cake for 1 minute before removing the pan. Top with the bacon pieces and cut into slices. Best served warm.
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.