6/3/11

Baking on Friday: Apricot Cherry Upside Down Mini Cakes



We're at that sweet spot in the Spring harvest when cherries and apricots are available at the same time.  It's a small window of opportunity to make one of my all-time favorite desserts.  I like it because it's easy to make, it's pretty to look at, it's low in fat, and it's yummy!  Of all those things, yumminess is the most important, in my humble gastronomical opinion.

Interestingly, I did a search for the recipe so that I could link to it.  Although I'm certain the recipe first appeared in Cooking Light magazine in June of 2004, it seems to be available all over the internet without credit being given for its original publication.  And I've had to update this post since my original link disappeared.  Now you can find it where I've linked to it, with credit given where credit is due.

You can whip this up in a matter of minutes.  A cherry pitter makes the job a whole lot easier  Recently, I read that you can perch the cherry on top of some kind of bottle with a narrow mouth (like a wine bottle) and then use a bamboo skewer to push the pit into the bottle.  Ordinarily, I don't like single-purpose gadgets, but I make an exception for my cherry pitter.  Even if you used it only for this one dessert, it would be worth its weight in gold.  Maybe not.  Given a choice, I guess I'd rather have the gold--but you get the idea.  If you need another reason to have one, a cherry pitter is also useful for pitting olives.

This is a light and flavorful dessert.  The cake is sweet, but it's well balanced with the tartness of the apricots.  It's small so that it won't make you feel overly full after a meal.  Also, it makes just four so that it won't be sitting around all week.  It's just enough for Mike, me, Mike,  and me.  I usually top it with some whipped cream from a can, but it would be good with vanilla ice cream too.

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