makes
12
prep
10 minutes
cook
20 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
12
serves
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
20
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
- 50 g brown sugar
- 6 apricots, halved with the stones removed
- juice of 1 lemon
- ½ tsp river salt
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 75 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
- 130 g butter, cubed and chilled
- 1 egg
- whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Place the butter in a large ovenproof frying pan that is big enough to hold all the apricots in a single layer and place over medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to melt, add in the vanilla pod and the seeds. Swirl the pan around as the butter melts to mix through the vanilla. You will notice that the butter foams and then smooths out before it starts to foam again. Closely watch the butter at this stage as this is when it starts to brown and darken.
Once your butter starts to brown, sprinkle the brown sugar over the pan, give it a little jiggle and then gently lay in the apricot halves, cut-side down. At this stage everything will be getting hot, caramely and dark. Add in the lemon juice and salt and let the apricots sit there for 3–5 minutes. At this stage, the cut side will be lightly caramelised.
Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 5 minutes or until they are just tender, the remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Reduce the oven to 160ºC.
Place your flour, caster sugar and rosemary into a mixing bowl, add in the butter and use your fingertips to mix through. You want to gently incorporate the butter into the mix so it becomes like crumbs.
Whisk your egg with a fork to break it apart and then use a spoon to mix it through the mix. You will be left with a moist mix.
Lightly grease your muffin tins (with ⅓ cup-capacity holes) and divide the cake mixture evenly among the holes. Use a small spoon to firmly press the mix in and down to create a slightly concave shape. You want the rim to be slightly higher so it can act as a barrier for the syrupy apricots.
Use a spoon to place an apricot half atop each individual cake, cut-side down. Be careful while doing this as you want the rim to encase everything - any sloppy sugar bits over the edge of the mix will stick when cooked and make it hard to turn the cakes out.
Place the cakes onto a tray and bake at 160ºC for 15-20 minutes. The cakes are ready when you can see the outer edges coming away from the tin. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes or so, then use a baby spatula or knife to gently lift them out of the tins.
Cakes are delicious eaten warm with lashings of whipped cream.
Cook’s tips
• These cakes are best eaten straight on the day as they tend to get a little soggy, if left for too long.
Photography by Benito Martin. Food styling by O Tama Carey. Prop styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food preparation by Nick Banbury.
This recipe is part of The seasonal cook: Apricot column. View previous The seasonal cook columns and recipes.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
