Drunken apricot upside-down cake- BREVILLE COLLABORATION

I grew up on a variety of sticky and sweet upside-down cakes - they were an essential dessert at any family gathering for us. Although admittedly, my Nan’s version with tinned pineapple rings, studded with glacé cherries was on offer more often than not. She would serve it warm, with crisp edges, a gooey centre and a large jug of the thickest cream on the side, if we were extra lucky. Grandad would also nip out and arrive moments later with a vanilla ice cream for the ultimate indulgent combination. First, he would administer the biggest spoonful of ice cream, swiftly followed by a good glug of that rich cream. Both would leave the slice of cake almost invisible - but in all truth, this was the best bit. On the odd occasion, there was even a drizzle of golden syrup!

With those fond memories fresh in mind, I could not help but share my festive spin on this family classic.

Using the Breville Heatsoft™ hand mixer not only makes baking this cake a lot easier (there was no achy arm here!) but it also enables you to use butter straight from the fridge, speeding the entire process up. It’s HeatSoft™ function’s emits a gentle heat which allows you to bring ingredients to room temperature 12x faster. This means creaming the butter and sugar for this recipe takes no time at all and ensures you have a smooth base for your sponge.

To use the Heatsoft™ hand mixer with the Heatsoft™ function, simply put the speed onto setting 1, (the lowest of 7 speed settings) and press the Heatsoft™ button just the once. Begin by combining the butter and sugar, and after a minute or so increase the speed to setting 4. Continue until you have a smooth, fluffy, light and fully-combined butter and sugar. You may need to scrape the sides of your bowl down from time to time.

This was a huge time saver and if you are like me and regularly forget to remove the butter from the fridge before baking, this is the gadget for you! No more time needs to be wasted!

It is also worth noting that the Heatsoft™ hand mixer comes with a whisk attachment, and even more impressively, a dough hook, meaning you can use it to make all manner of cakes and breads.

Requires one 8-9inch baking tin

Feeds 6-8

Preparation time 10-15 minutes

Cooking time 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

250g dried soft apricots

3tbsp of brandy

generous knob of butter

6tbsp granulated brown sugar (you can use muscovado for a darker caramel finish - like I have here although it’s the less traditional way)

For the sponge –

160g soft brown sugar

120g unsalted butter

zest of 1 orange

1tsp orange blossom water

1tsp vanilla bean paste

2 free range eggs

100ml full fat milk

190g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

1tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

Instructions –

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Begin by combining the apricots with the brandy and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes.

Generously coat the baking tin with butter then sprinkle over a good coating of sugar.

Once the apricots have soaked in the brandy, arrange them on top of the sugar, sitting them next to each other, lining the base of the baking tin.

To make the sponge –

Plug in your Breville Heatsoft™ hand mixer, then using the beater attachment, cream together the chilled butter and sugar. Begin beating on the lowest setting, press the Heatsoft™ button and beat until you have a light, creamy consistency. There should be no grain from the sugar left once properly combined. You may need to scrape down the edges from time to time.

Next, add the orange zest, orange blossom water, vanilla bean paste and any leftover brandy and combine. In another bowl, using the whisk attachment of the Heatsoft™ hand mixer, combine the eggs and milk, then gradually combine with the butter and sugar mix.

Separately mix all dry ingredients and pass through a sieve. Flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add this to your wet mix being mindful to not over mix but equally be sure it is fully combined.

Pour the batter over the top of the apricots and bake for around 35 minutes or until a knife it comes out clean when the cake is pierced.

Let sit for a couple of minutes then carefully turn out onto your serving plate or platter.

Serve with whipped cream (don’t forget you can use the whisk function on the Breville Heatsoft™ hand mixer for this too), or ice cream, or both! If you are going all-out finish with a drizzle of golden syrup.

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