upside-down apple delight

At the end of each semester, I make a dinner for my student staff, and of course, dinner wouldn't be complete without a dessert. This semester, the dessert was apple upside-down cake. Yum, yum, yum! This was even tastier than I imagined, and would be a lovely dessert for all kinds of occasions.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups, caramel topping
2 cans (21 oz. each), apple pie filling
1 package, butter recipe yellow cake filling
1 cup, water
1 stick (1/2 cup), softened butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup, unsweetened applesauce
3 packets (.74 oz each), spiced cider drink mix

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and spray the sides of two 9" round pans with non-stick spray.

2. Pour 3/4-cup of the caramel topping into each pan and spread evenly. Arrange apple slices from 1 can of the pie filling in a decorative pattern on top of the caramel topping in each pan. Carefully spoon the remainder of the pie filling over the slices.

3. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, butter, eggs, applesauce and cider mix. Beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on low speed. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat on medium speed for another 2 minutes.

4. Gently pour half of the batter over apple slices in each cake pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpicks inserted in center come out clean.

5. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 30 minutes. Turn each cake pan over onto a serving plate, and gently lift pans to remove cakes.

The recipe says to serve immediately; but it can sit for a while, too, before serving. Because honestly, I don't think there's anything you could do to make this taste bad. Yeah, it's that good!

Where I am: home
What I'm reading: The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler

(recipe from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Desserts 2)