For someone like me who is not a big fan of chocolate,baking with fruits is one of the most favorite things.It gives a perfect opportunity to experiment recipes with fruits & relish the results.Baking with fruits always overwhelms me, the way the flesh, natural oils and sweetness transform inside the oven is intriguing.Take for example an apple, the texture before and after baking is completely different and good in its own way..while the fresh one is juicy & crunchy, baked is dense & succulent.
Me and P adore fruits & try to include them as much as possible meals.With temperatures already soaring in Vegas,fruit based recipes are absolutely delightful.I saw really gorgeous stone fruits at the grocery store a week back.There is something about pink/plum/red colors – they catch my eye from far away and seem to call my name.I rushed towards them.There lay boxes of fleshy,bright-colored peaches, nectarines & apricots in front of my eyes,each trying to catch my attention.Helpless at being able to choose, I bought all of them – all in the name of health foods! Gnawing my teeth into fleshy stone fruit is super exciting.The rush of juices between the teeth & the texture from the flesh add a refreshing dimension to my dull, lazy days.Eating fruits heals me psychologically, it’s comforting to feel the intake of antioxidants the most natural way possible.
Our tastes in fruits match to the extent that we LOVE them but differ in the kind of fruit.While he is a tropical fruit fiend, I swear by berries & stone fruits.The moment,I picked up the first apricot,Oh what a pink blushing beauty it was outside.I pitted it knew that I had to make something to showcase inside-oozing with juices, accurately tart & with golden-colored flesh, just waiting to be baked!
Started my google search and found this perfect recipe from Good houseKeeping of an apricot cornmeal upside down cake.It has very less quantity of oil.And one of my favorite ingredients to bake with – buttermilk! I was slightly apprehensive because I had never baked with cornmeal what if we don’t like the taste or it doesnt rise much or is dry? It was painful to think about a 8″ cake making its way into the bin.But then, unless I took a leap, I would not have discovered the delight of baking with cornmeal.We totally loved it.It was moist, perfectly sweet & very homey looking.The slight tang from the buttermilk complemented the sweetish tartness of apricots very well.A perfect cake for summertime get togethers. Below goes the recipe:-
Ingredients :- [ Makes one 8" tall cake]
[Adapted from here ]
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 whole ripe apricots
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp freshly grated lime zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method:-
- Wash the apricots if using fresh.Ceach cut in half and pit them.Set aside.If using canned apricots, drain them and discard the liquid.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 8″ cake pan with at least 2″ high sides. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over bottom of skillet. Arrange apricot halves, cut side down, over brown sugar.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, granulated sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until blended.
- In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, butter, oil, lime zest, and vanilla extract until blended.
- Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and fold with a spatula until just blended. Pour batter over apricots and using a spatula spread evenly.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean.Mine took 32 minutes.
- Let cool in skillet on wire rack 10 minutes. Run knife around side of skillet. Place platter on top of skillet and carefully invert cake onto platter. Remove skillet.
- Cool cake slightly to serve warm, about 30 minutes.
- I thought that just 4 tbsp oil+butter for a 10″ cake was less.So I increased the oil quantity by a tbsp.
- If you like your cakes very sweet, then you may need to increase the sugar quantity in this recipe.
- This recipe will work well with all kinds of fruits.
Gorgeous looking cake. And the blushing apricots look so fresh! I have made this but with dried apricots. I must try this in a few months when spring/summer is here.
Cake looks so beautiful! I don’t really get fresh apricots often in Bangalore and when I do I like it too much to bake with it. Every time I see a cake with fruits I decide that I am going to make it but somehow end up not making it! I think the problem is that fruits are so perfect by themselves that I can’t get myself to do anything to them… lol!
I am having my morning tea and a slice of your cake would be the perfect accompaniment 
apricots in the cake look gorgeous in yellow and orange
what an innovative idea! instead of pineapples, apricots are wonderful!!!
Oh i love the joys of baking with cornmeal too!
Its fantastic in cakes and i love baking with cornmeal and am glad u tried it too
The cake is sooo sooo pretty and love the use of fresh apricots here!
I am jealous! We are in winter here and of course there are no stoned fruits. I miss them.
That;s said, I think the base for the cake is lovely and I can see apples being used instead of apricots!
The cake looks so moist, dense and perfect!!! I loved the shots of the Apricot
Mmm i LOVE upside-down cakes and can’t believe I’ve yet to try any other than apple. This looks so good and I love the texture cornmeal gives to baked sweets too.
This cake is so beautiful. I love the idea of using peaches instead of pineapple.
Yummm!!! Divine!!! I baked a pineapple upside down cake recently and now this is going to be next on the list!!
I love berries and stony fruits too
I’m very fond of baking with fruits. The cake looks gorgeous .
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
This cake looks delicious, and your fresh apricots look so juicy!
This apricot cake looks gorgeous and definitely refreshing..I can just smell the fragrance from here
I agree with you…Baking with fruits is a wonderful experience…
and the transformation the fruit undergoes is enchanting..
I love stone fruits and berries too. I keep a bunch on hand all summer – eat them with yogurt for breakfast or lunch. And you’re right about the transformation when baked – both uncooked and baked fruits are interesting and delicious, but in totally different ways.
The coffee cake looks and sounds really delicious. Love how fluffy and high it is!
me too not a chocolate fan and fruits are my all time first choice unless I am specially baking for hubby who likes mostly chocolates. This is one gorgeous fluffy looking cake. You pictures are getting better day by day
I was thinking of baking cornbread ~ the savoury … but looking at this gorgeous bake… might derail my plans..
Cake looks super gorgeous,addictive,interesting and beautiful…never thought of making cakes with cornmeal..excellent..
Your right, this IS the perfect cake for Summer parties! I am bookmarking it right now!
What a beautiful cake – and a timely post now that there is an abundance of stone fruit in our market. Love the addition of cornmeal and buttermilk!
Oh, I’m so jealous of your gorgeous stone fruit…, these images are just so good Tanvi. And the cake., what a treat & by using buttermilk you’ve lifted the flavours even more too. Awesome
Beautiful! I love upside down cake of any kind…and I love the texture cornmeal lends to baked goods. Yummmmms. Could this count as breakfast?
Wow Tanvi this is wonderful. My mom usually uses cornmeal for other things but never like this. Thanks for sharing this recipe
You and I are so similar when it comes to baking! I’m not really a huge chocolate person, but baking with fruit is so totally my thing! This cornmeal cake looks so light and refreshing. The ideal summer dessert!
Never had this cake before but it looks so darn good Tanvi. Love the texture.. looks so moist and delicious.
Have a great week ahead.
wow, that is new, I mean apricots in upside down cake and also addition of cornmeal. The results look delicious and sinful
YUM! i love fresh apricots. great idea and love the addition of cornmeal here. bookmarking this one with my cookmarked.com account!
Hi Tanvi! Ohhh this looks so delicious. I’m drinking tea this morning instead of coffee, and this would make me so happy if I have a one big piece! You are not into chocolate? You are lucky you are not crazy about it because once you are, it’s uncontrollable. Fruit option is much healthier. I love fruit cake as much as chocolate! In fact, as I get older, I definitely prefer this kind of fruit cake over chocolate cake. I’m changing…Your apricot cake looks so perfect – flawless. Amazing.
This is a stunning and succulent looking cake, just oozing with the sweetness of the apricots. What a perfect dessert for the ending to a warm summer barbecue. So glad you shared this one!
Hi Tanvi, bumped into your blog through Saee’s. You have a lovely blog with fabulous pictures!! Will check out more from you
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Thank you everyone for stopping by!Love you all!
This cake looks irresistible! Baking with ripe summer fruit is the best.
This is absolutely beyond gorgeous. My mom used to make something very similar — I can taste it from here. Thank you for the trip down memory lane and a lovely recipe to add to my recipe box!
I actually just baked upside-down orange polenta cupcakes. Another friend baked with cornmeal, too. Must be that kind of week
you read my heart i say Tanvi, i adore fruits in cakes and dessert. I’m such a lazy bum when eating fruits can’t eat for any reason…..but when it is baked it is all fine, last week two weeks before i made lemon apricot cake, yours is way too gorgeous, i made it unhealthy with loads of mascarpone cheese. Halved apricot pic is stunning!
Your cornmeal cake looks beautiful with the apricots…would love to have a slice of this cake with a cup of tea or coffee. You just reminded me that I should incorporate cornmeal in my baking.
Have a wonderful week Tanvi
lovely cake and great snaps as ever adore summer stone fruits
I can’t wait for the stone fruit to be back in season! This sounds so so delicious!!
A fabulous cake! This version with semolina and apricots is awesome.
Cheers,
Rosa
As soon as I saw this cake, my mind shot to the swiftly-ripening apricots sitting on my counter, and a voice inside of me demanded, “YOU MUST MAKE THIS.” Who am I to argue?
Just took it out of the oven, and it’s soooooo good.
I do want to point out, you have both lemon and lime peel listed under the ingredients; one in the recipe list, one in the recipe instructions. I went with the lime, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the lime zest balances with the cornmeal and the apricots. If you tried lemon zest this time, try the lime the next!