Fresh Apricot Ginger Peasant Cake

Adapted slightly from The Luna Cafe

I was smitten with this cake the instant I saw it … especially since mom and dad still have bunches of fresh apricots from their tree that need using. The Luna Cafe describes this cake as “a simple, earthy cake in the clafouti tradition and a delicious vehicle for late summer fruit and berries”. I’ve been to France and I’ve had clafouti but it was nothing like this cake. The Clafouti I have had is a French baked custard with fruit in it–it’s marvelous and perhaps I haven’t experienced everything in the Clafouti tradition, but I just can’t describe this cake as a clafouti. My parents said it was like a coffee cake. I thought it was more like the amazing Fresh Strawberry Cobbler that I made years ago.

This cake … it is made in a pie pan. The batter is about the consistency of pancake batter.  It has a lovely crunchy crust, a tender cakey inside, and a soft sweet and tangy fruity layer infused with one of my favorite “seasonings” … ginger. Her recipe called for 3 Tablespoons of candied ginger … I did use a generous 3 Tablespoons of ginger for each pie and one of my “taste testers” thought that was too much. Personally, I thought it was just right, but then I am a ginger fiend so please take that into account when you are deciding how much ginger you want in your cake.

I had to make a couple adjustments … I baked this cake at mom and dad’s house. My dad doesn’t have a lot of liquor on hand and he certainly doesn’t have anything like a ginger liqueur, but he does have whiskey that he uses in some process in his wine making, so I used whiskey. There were several other adjustments as well, including whole wheat flour in place of half of the flour, and the end result was delightful. I would definitely make this again. I doubled the recipe because my sister wanted to take one home with her for her husband to taste. Most of it went into the larger pie plate, and then just about 1/3 went into the smaller pie plate for her to take home. I think if you were using two regular-sized pie plates, you could divide them evenly.

When I took it out of the oven, my dad thought the edges were too dark because they do look quite dark brown, but we discovered they weren’t. They had just the right amount of browning to give it a good sweet crunch. I think my favorite part of making this recipe for my family was how they were “tasting” it out of the smaller pie plate because I told them they couldn’t eat the big one until after I’d photographed it. Of course, in the process of photographing it, I had to scoop some up and taste it … and then I brought it back in and sat down to enjoy it. I commented on the flavor of it … and it took a minute for that to register with them. “Wait a minute … you’re eating it?!?” someone exclaimed. I just giggled a little to myself, then told them that yes, it’s okay to eat it now. About 5 minutes later it was half gone. There were just four of us in the house (mom, dad, me and 1 sister). I had to leave then so I don’t know how the rest of the family liked the cake, but I’m guessing it didn’t last very long.

Fresh Apricot Ginger Peasant Cake

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 2 "cakes" ... I think total 12 - 15 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 8 – 16 fresh apricots, pitted and cut into quarters or eighths (use 8 if your apricots are large, 16 if they are small … I used 16)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 – 6 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
• 1/4 cup whiskey (or ginger liqueur)
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

For the batter:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Spray 2 pie pans with cooking spray. Pour in the melted butter and tip the pie plate from side to side to cover all of it with butter. Use a brush to coat the edges of the pie plate with butter. Set aside.
2. In a smaller mixing bowl, mix the apricots with the sugar, candied ginger, whisky and vanilla. Let this mixture sit while you make the cake batter.
3. In a larger bowl, mix together the flours with the sugar and baking powder, ginger and cinnamon, then add the milk and stir just until the batter is smooth, with no lumps.
4. Pour half the batter into the center of each of the pie pans and let it spread out on its own.
5. Spoon the apricots over center of the batter, dividing between the two plates, leaving about 3/4 inch “space” around the edges of the pie plates.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before scooping it up to enjoy.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Treasure Box Tuesday, Simple Supper Tuesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Foodie Friends Friday, Freedom Fridays with All my Bloggy Friends, Weekend Re-Treat, What to Do Weekends, Moonlight & Mason Jars and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.