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.