Spiced Apricot Upside Down Cake

Today, I am delighted to introduce Nicky Clinch. Nicky is a Certified Macrobiotic Nutritionist, Counsellor and Chef who loves to empower others in their relationship to food, their lives and within themselves. She has very kindly created a recipe just for us, and it fits perfectly with the season. Given my current dietary requirements, it is also grain, dairy, egg and nut free. And just in case you were wondering, yes, the day I allocated to take these photos was practically devoid of light, roll on the 21 December!

Spiced Apricot Upside Down Cake (serves 6)

Ingredients:

Cake

100g Chestnut Flour
135g Coconut Flour
2 ¼ tsp Aluminum-Free baking Powder
¼ Tsp Sea Salt
60ml Olive Oil or Light Vegetable Oil
120ml Rice Syrup or Maple Syrup (I used Rice and it was sweet enough)
160ml Unsweetened Apple Juice
1 ½ tsp Vanilla Essence

Topping

1 tbls Olive Oil
2 tbls Brown Rice Syrup or Maple Syrup
6-8 Ripe Apricots (thinly sliced)
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Five Spice

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C
Put the sliced apricot in a mixing bowl and add spices, oil, syrup and a pinch of sea salt. Mix together well with a spoon. Mix gently so you don’t break the apricots.
To prepare the cake batter, mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and all the wet ingredients in another.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry.
In a pre-oiled 9″ cake tin, layer the apricot slices in a spiral or concentric circles and pour some of the juice from the apricot bowl over the top so it is all nice and moist.
Pour the cake batter over the fruit.
Put in the oven and bake for 40min or until the cake is done in the middle and the apricots are tender. You will know it’s done when you stick a knife or skewer through the middle and it comes out clean.
Take the cake out of the oven,and leave it to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Once cool, take a page dinner plate and place it over the top of the cake tin. With one hand on the bottom of the plate and one hand on the bottom of the cake tin, turn the whole cake upside down so it is sitting solidly on the dinner plate.
Undo the sides of the cake tin and pull up and off.
Would be delicious served with a vegan cream, or a dairy one even.

A few words about Nicky:

"A strong believer in 'balance' rather than 'perfection', combined with her background in Oriental Medicine and Emotional Counselling, Nicky is fast becoming a true pioneer in her field.

Nicky's intention is for us all to create solid, sustainable foundations in our health and wellbeing so we can begin to fully thrive in our lives.

Nicky is an incredibly passionate Macrobiotic Chef, believing that healthy food should not only nourish our health but also encourage balanced and harmony within our lives. A lover of local seasonal produce, Nicky's dishes bursts with colour, flavour and creativity every time."

You can find Nicky here:

Website - Nicky Clinch
Instagram - @nicky_clinch

Have a great weekend.

Emma x