Easy Apricot Cake (Upside-Down)

This apricot cake, upside-down style, is probably the best and easiest apricot recipe you could make. Definitely my favorite one!

No kidding, I love this apricot cake so much I could easily eat it every week for a while. And it is so quick and easy to make that if it wasn't for all the other cakes I would like to try, I could really make this every week.

It takes about 15 minutes to prepare everything, and the steps are so easy that even my 5-year-old daughter was able to make it almost on her own.

I just had to help with cutting the apricots (the knife is too sharp) and breaking the eggs (she makes a mess out of them if she tries it alone). And turning the cake onto the serving plate is also not something kids should do.

So this upside-down cake could be a good idea to try if you like baking with your children. Mine love to do it, not only baking but cooking as well, and would do it every day if I let them.

This apricot cake is another old recipe I found in Silvia Jurcovan's Cookbook; I told you a bit more about her a few weeks ago in this post for the Greta Garbo Cake. Just like that one,  this cake was spot-on, just perfect!

How to make an upside-down apricot cake?

I chose to make it with apricots because apricots happen to be plentiful at the moment, and we all love them so much, but you could make this cake any time of the year and with whatever fruit you happen to have.

You could try it with sweet or sour cherries, nectarines or peaches, apples, plums, and so on. Let me know if you do; I am curious to see what you have tried.

Butter and sugar layer

• The butter in this recipe does not come into the batter of the cake. The only thing you have to do with the butter is to use it to smear the baking dish really thickly.
• There are 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon butter, and that seems like a lot for just greasing the pan. The original recipe recommended using between 100 g and 180 g/ 6.3 oz/ ¾ cups butter for greasing the baking dish. I ever only used 100 g and never found it to be too little or too much.
• It is a lot for that purpose, I have never used 100 g just for greasing a baking pan before, but this is just the way this recipe goes.
• You will have a thick layer of butter in the pan, which you will then sprinkle with a rather thick layer of granulated sugar.
• The halved apricots come on top of the sugar, and they will cook halfway in this butter-sugar mixture before you actually add the batter on top.

Apricot layer

• In the next pictures, you can see how the apricots need to be cooked before adding the batter.
• They will be in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of the apricots, until they start to get soft and wrinkly.
• The sugar and butter will have melted together by this time, forming a sweet and buttery sauce for the apricots.

Batter layer

• Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites shortly before the baking time of the apricots has come to an end.
• The fruit will need to cool for about 3 minutes, and during this time, you can mix the rest of the ingredients for the batter and carefully mix everything together. Again: there is no additional butter in the batter.
• Be very careful when folding the egg yolks and the flour mixture into the egg whites; use a hand whisk and not an electric mixer for this purpose, and do it as gently and with as few movements as you can.
• This will ensure that the cake will rise nicely, giving you a soft and fluffy bed for the aromatic apricots and their sweet topping.

How to bake the apricot cake?

• Carefully pour the batter over the cooked apricots and return the baking dish to the oven. Continue baking the fresh apricot cake for 30 minutes, taking care not to open the oven during the first 20 minutes of the baking time. This might cause the cake to sink, and that would be a shame.
• After 20 minutes, you can check the cake if absolutely necessary. If you have the feeling that the cake has too much color already, reduce the temperature of the oven to 160 degrees Celsius/ 320 degrees Fahrenheit.
• This also depends on your oven. The upside-down apricot cake should have more or less the color you can see in the second picture above this paragraph.
• If you check the doneness with a toothpick or a skewer, don't stick it in too deep. It should only be inserted in the batter layer. The cake is ready when the toothpick stuck in the batter layer comes out clean.

How to serve?

• After removing the apricot cake from the oven, let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Then run a butter knife around its edges to release it.
• Choose a rectangular serving platter that is a bit larger than the baking dish you used. Place the platter on top of the baking dish.
• Make sure you wear oven gloves when you turn the cake onto the platter; the baking dish will still be very hot.
• So, when the platter is on top of the baking dish, grab both the platter and the dish and carefully but quickly turn the cake around; it will easily fall onto the platter. Remove the baking dish.
• Now you will be able to see the three layers of the cake: the soft cake layer, which should be fluffy and nicely risen; the apricot layer, and between the apricots, the butter-sugar layer.
• At first glance, you might think that the cake is undercooked because the butter-sugar layer will look rather wet. But it is not undercooked or wet; it is just glossy because of the butter and the sugar. Have a look at the picture below.

And in case you would like to try some more super easy-to-make cake recipes, have a look at this Moist Orange Bundt Cake, this Blitzkuchen, or this Healthy Apple Cake, all more or less suitable for baking with children as well.

More apricot recipes

Easy Apricot Cake (Upside-Down)

This easy apricot cake, upside-down style, is probably the best apricot cake you could make. Definitely, my favorite apricot recipes ever!

4.42 from 24 votes

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Course: Cakes

Cuisine: Romanian

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 196kcal

Author: Adina

Equipment

• ▢
  Rectangular baking dish of about 21x32 cm/ 8x13 inch

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Ingredients 

• ▢ Butter-Sugar-Apricot Layer:
• ▢ 100 g unsalted butter 3.5 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon
• ▢ 100 g granulated sugar 3.5 oz/ ½ cup
• ▢ 750 g small apricots 1.7 lbs, a bit more or less as needed
• ▢ Batter Layer:
• ▢ 4 eggs
• ▢ 80 g granulated sugar 2.8 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢ 80 g all-purpose flour 2.8 oz/ ⅔ cup
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ whipped cream for serving optional

Instructions

Butter, Sugar and Apricot Layer

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Butter baking dish: Take a rectangular baking dish of about 21x32 cm/ 8x13 inch and smear it with the 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon butter all over, bottom and walls of the dish. You will have a thick layer of butter all over.
• Sprinkle 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ½ cup sugar only on the bottom of the baking dish.
• Halve the apricots and remove the stone. If the apricots are very large, you could quarter them. Then, place the apricots on the sugared pan carefully, cut side up, taking care not to disturb the sugar too much; the sugar should not come on top of the fruit.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the fruit starts to get soft and wrinkly.

Batter Layer:

• Beat egg whites: Shortly before the baking time for the apricots is up, separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add 80 g/ 2.8 oz/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar and the lemon juice and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Set aside.
• Remove the cake from the oven. Leave to stand for 3 minutes.
• Make the batter: In the meantime, carefully fold the egg yolks into the egg white mixture. Use a hand whisk to do this, and don't overdo it. Next, add the mixed flour and baking powder over the egg mixture and fold in very carefully again; you should not overdo it either.
• Bake: Spread the mixture over the fruit, level nicely and bake for about 30 minutes. Don't open the oven during the first 20 minutes of the baking time. Check after 20 minutes and reduce the temperature to about 160 degrees Celsius/ 320 degrees Fahrenheit if you think the cake already has too much color.
• Rest: After the baking time is over, take the cake out of the oven. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the batter layer comes out clean. Leave to stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Turn cake on a platter: Then, run a knife around the edges of the cake to release it correctly from the walls of the baking dish. Next, place a rectangular serving dish on the baking dish and reverse the cake onto the serving dish.
• Tip: At first glance, you might think that the cake is undercooked because the butter-sugar layer will look rather wet. But it is not undercooked or wet; it is just glossy because of the butter and the sugar.
• Cut the cake into squares and enjoy warm or cooled with some whipped cream on the side, if you wish.

Notes

Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (Amazon affiliate link).

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 119mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g

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