Apricot Cake

4.42 from 24 votes

This upside-down apricot cake recipe is probably the best and easiest apricot cake recipe you can make. It's definitely my favorite!

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: Cakes

Cuisine: Romanian

Servings: pieces

Calories: 196kcal

Author: Adina

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F.
Butter baking dish: Butter its bottom and walls with all the butter. You will have a thick layer of butter all over.
100 g unsalted butter/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon
Sprinkle the sugar only on the bottom of the baking dish.
100 g granulated sugar/ ½ cup
Apricots: Halve them 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.
750 g small apricots/ 1.7 lbs
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the fruit starts to get soft and wrinkly.

Beat egg whites: Separate 4 eggs shortly before the baking time for the apricots is up. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add sugar and lemon juice and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Set aside.
egg whites + 80 g granulated sugar/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Remove the baking dish 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 to the egg mixture and fold in very carefully again; you should not overdo it either.
egg yolks + 80 g all-purpose flour/ ⅔ cup +1 teaspoon baking powder
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 baking (Note 3). Check after 20 minutes and reduce the temperature to about 160°C/ 320°F if you think the cake already has too much color.
Check doneness with a toothpick; it should come out clean. Remove the apricot cake from the oven. Leave to stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
Invert the cake: Then, run a knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the walls of the baking dish. Place a rectangular serving dish on the baking dish and reverse the cake onto the serving dish (Note 4).
Cut the cake into squares and enjoy warm or cooled with some whipped cream on the side, if you wish.

Measurements: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
The butter isn't mixed into the cake batter; you use it to coat the baking dish generously. You will not need any butter for the cake batter.
Opening the oven too early might cause the apricot cake to sink. After 20 minutes, you can check the cake if necessary. If you feel it's getting too dark, reduce the oven temperature to 320°F/ 160°C.
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.