Apricot Upside Down Cake

Celebrate the Summer with an Apricot Upside Down Cake… Moist and Tender, topped with Buttery Brown Sugar Sweetened Apricots! Perfect for the Holidays…!!

So officially summer is here, and so are the summer fruits! Cherries, Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Berries…and for me that’s the perfect time to bake yummy goodies with all the fresh fruits. If someone asks me what my favorite dry fruit is, I will say “Apricots”. I also love Apricot Jam, but my hubby hates it. In spite of our differences for this fruit, I managed to convince him to buy a big box of fresh apricots from Costco recently. He wasn’t going to eat any and I knew that I have to find a way to finish them before they rotten, or else he is going to kill me. For me, this would be the first time I taste fresh apricots and I hoped to try some new recipes with the rest.

Apricot belongs to the stone fruit family of Peaches, Cherries, and Plums. It tastes like a mix of sweet and tart, wrapped in a yellow-orange skin which is velvety, and strongly resembles peach.  So now since I have tasted it, the real question arises “What will I do with these beauties? “Pies, Galattes and Tarts were my initial thoughts and the easiest too. But my hubby suggested trying some sort of a fruit cake as I had already baked galattes a few times recently after my last strawberry picking trip. Now, an upside down cake was on to-do list from a long time but I kept on postponing it as I wasn’t keen on trying the very common pineapple version. So I finally heeded to his suggestion and baked this beautiful cake with apricots – my first ever upside down cake.  I was so excited to get to the nerve wracking step of flipping the cake and see the surprise beneath; thankfully it came out very well!!

What’s your favorite upside down cake? Let me know in the comment section below.

Enjoy, Happy Baking!!!

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Apricot Upside Down Cake

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

1 hr 15 mins

 

Celebrate the Summer with an Apricot Upside Down Cake… Moist and Tender, topped with Buttery Brown Sugar Sweetened Apricots! Perfect for the Holidays…!!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apricot cake, apricot upside down cake, cake

Servings: 8

Author: Akhila

Ingredients

For the fruit base

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 10-12 fresh apricots (pitted, sliced lengthwise)

For the cake

• ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1¼ cup flour
• 1¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup milk (at room temperature)

Instructions

For the fruit base

1. Butter a 9 inch cake pan and keep aside.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. When it is completely melted and starts bubbling, add brown sugar. Switch off the flame and stir continuously until it turns into a smooth paste.
3. Spread the paste onto the prepared cake pan. Layer the apricot slices over the paste and lightly press to sink in.

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, salt, and keep aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add granulated sugar and beat well.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients alternating with milk, mix well until the batter is combined. The batter will be slightly thick.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and layer over the apricot slices.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I baked mine for 50 minutes.
8. Allow the cake to cool completely for 15-20 minutes. Carefully flip the cake into a cake stand/plate or any flat surface. Enjoy!

Notes

• Keep your apricot slices ready before preparing the butter/sugar paste, so that you can layer them immediately once the paste is poured into the cake pan. This helps the slices to sink to the bottom of the pan before the paste thickens, and would look pretty once the finished cake is flipped upside down. It also helps the sugar to coat the slices better making it sweeter.
• If you find any fruit pieces stuck to the pan after flipping, don’t worry! Just place it back on the cake to create the beauty as like before – no one will ever know!!!
• Apricots usually tend to be less sweet and may not taste ideal for cakes. So adjust the sugar as needed while making the fruit base.
• I prefer not to remove the skin of apricots as it may turn mushy without skin while baking.