Cornmeal Apricots Cake brings out the flavors of summer

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Cornmeal Apricots Cake brings out the flavors of summer

Who can ignore a blushing beauty? Not me.

I’m talking about a real head-turner with a scent as beguiling and heady as its form. Even though I’m with my wife, Angie, I feel no guilt. In fact, I see her head also turning as we pass a display of perfectly ripe apricots.

In my food world, rhubarb screams spring louder than a 70-degree, sunny April day. And after gorging on bundles of red stalks, and also green stalks – spring asparagus – I’m primed for summer, which means stone fruits.

At Sanford, the stone-fruit-parade of tarts starts with apricots, then peaches, tart cherries, and all things plum, ending with little Italians.

Of all stone fruits, peaches and apricots have the highest upside and also the most disappointments. I’m always on a quest for that perfectly balanced ripe (not mushy), yielding (not mealy), juicy (not watery), concentrated sweet-tart flavor. When the perfect one comes around, there is nothing more completely satisfying.

My favorite ways of using apricots depend upon the flavor. If they are perfection, they are all consumed out-of-hand before I get home. If they are really sweet, they find their way into low-sugar preserves and salads with tart greens. If they are on the tart side, I like to cut them into wedges and dust them with a touch of sugar or place them in a slow oven to concentrate their flavor for a delicious dessert.

Today’s recipe is for cornmeal quick bread batter, poured over fresh apricots and baked to a golden brown. The individual desserts are then turned over to display the fruit on top and served with a tart unsweetened orange cream.

It’s still a few weeks to summer, but when you take your first bite of this cake, it will quickly transport you there. And that’s the stone-cold truth.

Cornmeal Apricot Cake
Makes 4 individual cakes

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Unsweetened Orange Cream (see recipe)

Candied Orange Zest (see recipe)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

½ cup (4 ounces) sugar

2 large eggs, separated, room temperature

2 ounces (5 tablespoons) fine-grind cornmeal

6 tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

4 fresh medium-size apricots, cut into quarters

Make orange juice reduction: Zest oranges and set grated zest aside to use to make Candied Orange Zest. Squeeze oranges to yield ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons juice.

In a small saucepan, combine orange juice with lemon juice and reduce to ¼ cup. You will need 2 tablespoons for the cakes, 2 tablespoons for the unsweetened orange cream.

Make Unsweetened Orange Cream and Candied Orange Zest. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar about 1 minute until light and combined. Scrape down with spatula. With mixer on medium speed, add egg yolks one at a time to emulsify. Add 2 tablespoons of the orange juice reduction and mix.

In medium bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour and baking soda. Set mixer to low speed and add cornmeal mixture to creamed mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites with salt to soft peaks.

Remove bowl from mixer and whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the cornmeal mixture. Then fold in remaining egg whites.

Divide apricots between four (4 ½-inch) nonstick molds. If you don’t have nonstick molds, butter and flour molds beforehand and line bottom of molds with a buttered piece of parchment paper.

Divide cornmeal mixture among the four molds over the apricots and tap down the molds to level them off.

Bake in preheated oven 12 to 14 minutes, until a wooden skewer comes out of the center clean. When done, remove from oven and let cakes sit until they reach room temperature; then unmold. Garnish with Unsweetened Orange Cream and Candied Orange Zest.

Unsweetened Orange Cream:

Whisk cream and orange reduction together to medium peaks. Reserve chilled until needed.

Candied Orange Zest

In a small pot, bring water and sugar to a boil. Add orange zest and simmer slowly for 5 minutes. Remove to a container and keep refrigerated until needed.

Sanford “Sandy” D’Amato, chef/co-owner of Sanford Restaurant, 1547 N. Jackson St., is a James Beard Award winner. For more information, visit www.sanfordrestaurant.com.

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