Healthy Upside Down Cake Recipes

This rustic cake is a delicious alternative to pie and uses one of the tastiest fruits of the fall harvest--cranberries. The basic recipe is very versatile and can be made with apples, pears, peaches, plums or any full-flavored, slightly acidic fruit. Just arrange the fruit in the skillet before you pour the batter over it. The cake is best served warm; if you can, put it in the oven just before you sit down to dinner. Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.

This strawberry and rhubarb upside-down cake recipe highlights how delicious strawberries and rhubarb taste together. If you can't find rhubarb, substitute an equal amount of any kind of berry or even fresh figs. This upside-down cake still tastes great the next day when the juiciness of the fruit has had time to marry with the moist olive oil cake.

Rosy-pink rhubarb makes a particularly pretty upside-down cake. We balanced the fruit's tang with a crunchy nut-and-brown-sugar topping.

Retro, creamy and delicious, this cake is the frozen version of the beloved classic. This takes a bit of extra time to make--but it's worth it.

Caramelized apple slices are the perfect complement to the rich walnut cake.

Top down is the way to go for a gooey pecan-filled pineapple cake. Note: Do not sift cake flour before measuring for this recipe, regardless of package directions.

Deliciously caramelized tangerines make a beautiful topping for the “up side” on this healthy vanilla cake. Serve dolloped with vanilla whipped cream.

Cherries have a natural affinity with almonds; here they unite in a delicious upside-down cake.

Jewel-like plums are beautiful in this almond-flavored upside-down cake.

Poached dried fruits make a stunning upside-down cake. Use a variety of fruits for a colorful and rich-tasting cake.

Taking a cue from upside-down cakes, fragrant pears bake under gingerbread batter, making for a lovely presentation with minimum effort.

Rows of sweet apple slices are topped with tart cranberries in this pretty upside-down cake.

Layering the ingredients in this coffee cake recipe right into the pan lets you skip the steps of making the batter and the nut topping separately. To make this healthy one-bowl dessert so it can be served like "pull-apart" rolls, dollop 16 equal portions of batter over the nuts. If you don't want to fuss with that, dollop the batter on top however you like.

Bake this Southern-inspired, moist and fruity cake when peaches are plentiful--from late June through July.