Apricot Upside Down Cake

One of life's great practical jokes is that in summer when I'm surrounded by fresh fruit, it's usually so hot I can't bear to turn on the oven. Summers in Baltimore are steamy and even with the air conditioner running our oven heats up the house. Consequently, I don't do a lot of baking in the summer.

But sometimes during the summer a day comes along when I don't mind turning on the oven. Early last week it was breezy and not humid, and the nighttime temperatures were low enough that the house was staying relatively cool with the air conditioner off and the windows open.

I spent a pleasant morning hanging out in the kitchen making an apricot upside down cake. Through the screen door there was a little breeze, and the sounds of birds in the trees drifted in from our tiny backyard. The house I live in was built in 1885 and the kitchen is in the basement. It helps that in summer this is the coolest room in the house.

I love the way apricots smell when they're baking, the way the fragrance fills the house. The apricots' flavor and fragrance intensify as they cook, and they have enough tartness to contrast with the sweetness of the cake. Plus, I like seeing all those little round apricots looking like so many egg yolks.

This recipe is slightly adapted from Deborah Madison. She puts a dab of almond paste inside each apricot and adds almond extract to the batter. I prefer this without the almond, to me it's a distraction, but if you are fond of almonds, add it back. I also think this would be good with raspberries between the apricots rather than cherries but I haven't tried it.

Apricot Upside Down Cake

apdapted from The Savory Way by Deborah Madison

10 apricots, halved, pits removed
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
10 Bing cherries, pitted and halved
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter with the brown sugar in a 10" cast iron skillet. When the sugar has melted, remove the pan from the heat and arrange the apricot halves cut-side up in the skillet. Fill in the area between the apricot halves with the cherry halves.

2. Cream the remaining butter with the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time, then add the vanilla.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add them to the batter, stirring by hand. Alternate with the buttermilk or sour cream. Mix in as few strokes as possible so as not to overmix.

4. Pour batter over fruit and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

5. Let the cake rest for a short while, then cover the skillet with the cake plate and invert the cake onto the plate. If anything sticks to the skillet just press it back onto the cake.

It may seem like overkill but it's best with whipped cream.

Comments

[White On Rice Couple]

I've always wanted to have an apricot tree. Just ask Todd, I talk about it all the time.
If I did, I know I would be making many of these beautiful and perfectly summer cakes!

[roopa]

Oh Julie that looks so good!!! Can you please FedEx me a slice? :)

[Dining Dish]

That picture of the cake made my mouth water. It looks sooo sooo sooo good.

[Kitt]

Delicious! Almost worth turning the oven on for. In the middle of the night.

[Meg]

This looks wonderful! I love old houses with kitchen's downstairs... sooo cool!

[Meg]

This looks wonderful!

[katie]

I know the problem: lots of fruit and too hot to do anything. My neighbor has a tiny little 'canning kitchen' tacked on to the garage so at least she doesn't heat up the house.
Very pretty cake...worth the effort!

[pigtown-design]

Yum! I think that apricots, peaches and almonds are all related somehow. That's why the almond paste works.

When I lived in Locust Point, the back neighbours had an apricot tree. I used to get the windfall from it. They were better than any apricot I ever bought.

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

There's a farm up the road from me in Rhode Island that sells apricots, and while I'd never been a huge fan of apricots before, I now love getting them on the day they're picked, while still warm from the sun, and eating a juicy fruit on the way home. Will have to try this cake!

[Patricia Scarpin]

I have made pineapple upside down cake, but never apricot - this is luscious, Julie!

[nina]

It is so cold here that we do not mind switching on the oven to make this lovely dessert.....but we do not have apricots in season. I think I'll have to replace it with dried, soaked apricots or maybe a different fruit.

[Jeanine]

What a beautiful cake! I've never tried baking with apricots (yet!).

[Haley]

We'd like to invite you to participate in our July berry recipe contest. All competitors will be placed on our blogroll, and the winner will receive a fun prize! Please email me, haleyglasco@gmail.com, if you're interested. Feel free to check out our blog for more details: http://blog.keyingredient.com/2008/06/06/key-ingredient-cooks-kitchen-recipe-contest/

[Kevin]

That looks really good.

[claudia (cook eat FRET)]

beautiful. i mean that looks MUCH better than 'really good'. that looks incredible and sophisticated - and the perfect summer cake. worth a little heat...

[Anne]

I love homes built at the turn of the century. There's something so extra cozy about them.

Your cake looks scrumptious. I think I'll try it this weekend if it's not too hot.

[Lindy]

Oh, I wish I could have brought home some more of the lovely apricots I got at the Daley Plaza market. If I see more real apricots, I'm definitely going to try this. I think I'll go with the almond idea; I'm a major marzipan-fan.

[michelle]

Julie, that looks fantastic! I was just thinking yesterday that there must be some other adaptations for the standard pineapple upside-down cake (though I am in the land of pineapples...). Beautiful! And I can even smell the apricots baking...

[Julie]

Diane, I'd like to have an apricot tree too. Wait! What I'd really like is your beautiful garden.

Roopa, can we trade for a slice of your latest cake?

Dara, thanks! I think it came out pretty well.

Kitt, I can tell you're exactly like I am about the oven in the summer!

Meg, I like my basement kitchen. It was pretty weird at first but I've come to appreciate it.

Katie, a canning kitchen seems like a great answer to the whole problem of how hot cooking makes the house. Of course, when it's really hot I don't want to be standing by any stove, anywhere.

Fairfax, nice situation! Good to have a neighbor with a tree like that.

Lydia, that sounds like a perfect way to eat an apricot. When all is said and done, sometimes plain fruit is just the best.

Patricia, thanks! Pineapple upside cake remains the classic upside down cake.

Nina, I know that just as much as I hate to turn on the oven in summer, I enjoy turning it on in the winter. It makes the kitchen nice and cozy.

Jeanine, I recommend it. Apricots are delicious and they're so pretty.

Kevin, thanks! It was pretty darned good.

Claudia, well thank you! And here I was thinking it was homey rather than sophisticated.

Anne, hope you're settled into your new place by now. This is an easy cake if you do decide to try it.

Lindy, I thought the marzipan was too sweet and sort of vied with the apricot rather than playing them up. Although I am not a marzipan fan -- more of a marzipan neutral -- so maybe that has something to do with it.

Michelle, thanks! There's lots of upside down cakes out there. I've also made cranberry upside down cake before which I recommend, and I meant to try rhubarb upside down cake this spring but rhubarb season got away from me. Of course, pineapple is a classic and you're right, you are in the land of pineapples.

[bella]

I really love your cake so wonderful!i'll try it for sure

[Julie]

Thanks, Bella! That's a pretty fabulous looking cake on your site too.

[Lore]

The cake looks heavenly Julie! I can almost taste how moist it is thanks to the gorgeous pic.

[Botacook]

This cake looks gorgeous. I also really like to cook seasonal fruits, especially when the weather is not so nice.

[Jennifer]

Thanks for this delicious cake! I made this tonight with apricots and blackberries.

[Julie]

Jennifer, apricot and blackberry sounds like a delicious combination. Great idea.