Recipe: Barbara’s apricot upside-down cake

Photo: sxc.hu
Photo: sxc.hu

This recipe comes courtesy of my sister Barbara, cake-maker extraordinaire. Barbara’s baking skills have her in high demand for family parties and functions; people regularly ask her for cakes as Christmas or wedding presents.

Apricot Upside-down cake

Ingredients

  • 1oz butter
  • 3oz brown sugar
  • 1 tin of apricots, preferably in own juice such as Epicure, available in most shops including Tesco (reserve juice)
  • 4oz butter
  • 4oz caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4oz self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • Zest of 1 lemon

Method

  • For the syrup, melt butter and add the brown sugar. Heat gently for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves. If too thick, add a drop of the juice
  • Line a round tin (loose bottomed) with greaseproof paper and pour on the syrup. Place the apricots cut side down (with a cherry in the middle of it).
  • Whisk the butter and sugar until light and pale white. Add the eggs one by one and whisk.
  • Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture and add the lemon zest. Whisk until well mixed.
  • Put cake mixture on top of the apricots and bake for 45 mins at 150ºC.