Category Archives: Fruit

Cake for Kelly – Apricot Upside-Down Cake

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This one is for Kelly. Apricots have always been a favored snack for her from the time she was very little. Here, the fruit is combined with an old-fashioned dessert, the upside-down cake. The resulting cake is magnificent, with a gooey, caramelized topping, starring apricots, that gets cooked beneath a tender and buttery cake. It is simple to make and bursting with flavor.

Skillet cakes were common in America in the 1800s. Those early cakes were cooked on the stovetop and used seasonal fruit like apples and cherries. The fruit was placed in the bottom of a cast-iron skillet and batter was poured over it. When the cake was done and flipped out of the pan, the caramelized fruit on top was revealed. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake came about in the 1920s after the Dole Fruit Company made canned pineapple widely available. While pineapple upside-down cake may have been my favorite growing up, I now like this version even better.

Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Apricot Upside-Down Cake (adapted from upstateramblings.com)  Total Time Required: 45 minutes, Prep Time: 10 minutes, Cook Time: 35 minutes, Servings: 8

Ingredients:

  • 15 ounces canned apricots in apricot juice or lite syrup
  • 5 tablespoons apricot juice from the canned apricots
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs separated
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Separate the eggs into the yolks and whites.

Melt the butter and combine it with the brown sugar.

Combine the melted butter with the brown sugar.

Pour the brown sugar mixture into the cake pan. Drain the apricots, reserving 5 tablespoons of the juice. Arrange the apricots over the brown sugar, cut side up.

Arrange the apricots over the brown sugar mixture.

Add the egg yolks to the large bowl of a stand mixer and beat them until they are light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and reserved apricot juice to the bowl.

Combine the egg yolks with the sugar and apricot juice.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Set the batter aside.

Add the flour mixture to the batter.

In another mixing bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter by hand, until they are well combined.

Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter.

Spread the batter in the cake pan, covering the apricots.

Spread the batter over the apricots.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out mainly clean and the cake reaches an internal temperature of 200º – 210ºF when read on an instant read thermometer. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Bake to an internal temperature of 200º – 210ºF.

Put a cake plate on top of the cake pan and flip the cake pan onto the plate. Remove the pan from the cake. Allow the cake to continue to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Turn the cake out of the pan onto a plate.

Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Moist and delicious!

It may be old-fashioned, but it is still delicious!  ~Linda

Apricot Upside-Down Cake (adapted from upstateramblings.com)  Total Time Required: 45 minutes, Prep Time: 10 minutes, Cook Time: 35 minutes, Servings: 8

Ingredients:

  • 15 ounces canned apricots in apricot juice or lite syrup
  • 5 tablespoons apricot juice from the canned apricots
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs separated
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Separate the eggs into the yolks and whites.

Melt the butter and combine it with the brown sugar. Pour the brown sugar mixture into the cake pan. Drain the apricots, reserving 5 tablespoons of the juice. Arrange the apricots over the brown sugar, cut side up.

Add the egg yolks to the large bowl of a stand mixer and beat them until they are light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and reserved apricot juice to the bowl.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Set the batter aside.

In another mixing bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter by hand, until they are well combined.

Spread the batter in the cake pan, covering the apricots. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out mainly clean and the cake reaches an internal temperature of 200º – 210ºF when read on an instant read thermometer.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Put a cake plate on top of the cake pan and flip the cake pan onto the plate. Remove the pan from the cake. Allow the cake to continue to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.