Caramelised apricot and ricotta upside-down cake
Ingredients
For the topping
- 2 x 420g tins apricot halves in light syrup, drained and 75ml syrup reserved
- 80g unsalted butter
- 100g light brown sugar
For the ricotta sponge
- 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 400g ricotta, at room temperature
- 400g sugar
- 4 free-range medium eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Finely grated zest 1 lemon
- 350g plain flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Crème fraîche to serve
Method
- Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Blot the apricot halves dry with kitchen paper. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, then beat in the sugar with a wooden spoon for 1-2 minutes until the mixture has emulsified. Pour into the cake tin, then place the apricots on top, cut-side down, until they fill the bottom of the tin (you may have leftover apricots).
- To make the sponge, beat the butter, ricotta and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in the eggs, little by little, then beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarb in a bowl, then whisk into the wet ingredients to form a smooth batter. Pour over the apricots and level with a spatula. Bake for 70 minutes (put a baking tray on the rack below to catch any drips) or until golden and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
- Near the end of the cooking time, warm the reserved apricot syrup in a small pan. Once out of the oven, poke holes into the top of the cake using a skewer, then immediately drizzle the syrup over the top. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a wire rack to cool. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.