Upside-Down Chocolate Apricot Cake

Hey! I am so glad you stopped by to check out my recent bakes. My name is Kelsey. I have dedicated 2021 to baking from my favorite baking publication – Bake from Scratch. Each quarter is dedicated to one main category of baking: cakes, breads, pies/pastries, cookies/miscellaneous. I am so excited to learn how to master (or try to master) each of these. Follow me along on my journey!

I cannot lie, I only baked this cake because I thought the picture was pretty. Have you ever done that? I had absolutely ZERO intentions on actually eating this cake but it wasn’t too bad! I am not a fan of apricots but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the chocolate cake was. Thankfully my father-in-law likes apricots so I got my real review from him. He thought the cake itself was very good, the apricots definitely brought a sour and tangy flavor which was not fully appreciated. I suppose if you love apricots this would be the cake for you! I had multiple people tell me “just make the chocolate cake without the apricots on top” haha! I might just have to try that next time.

I made a couple mistakes in this cake, the main one being that I did not let it cool down long enough because the apricots started sliding everywhere. The bright orange fruit on the dark chocolate cake is so pretty, it really pops and makes for a beautiful cake – except don’t take it out of the pan too soon haha! I think if I had let it cool down more, the apricots would have stuck in their spots and the brown sugar glaze would have hardened up a little to make it look more pleasing. The brown sugar glaze was really helpful in cutting the sourness of the apricots. Overall, I would definitely make it again for any apricot lover out there.

Ingredients

For the cake:

¾ cup unsalted butter, divided
¾ cup firmly packed
3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
2 (15-ounce) cans unpeeled, divided apricot halves in syrup, drained
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
^1_/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sour cream

Directions:

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray a 10-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour.
In a small saucepan, bring ¼ cup butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat (do not stir).
Remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Pour into prepared pan.
Place apricots, cut side down, over sugar mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat granulated sugar and remaining ½ cup butter at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
Add remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla, beating until combined.
Pour batter over apricots in pan.
Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto a flat serving plate. Serve warm.