These days, I am completely obsessed with stone fruits. Every time I go to the store, I pick some up, either to eat fresh or to cook with. I am featuring apricots in this recipe, but peaches, nectarines, or even plums would work just as well. I came across this recipe from A Spicy Perspective, a beautiful blog from professional writer, recipe developer, and food stylist, Summer Collier. What intrigued me was her addition of Chinese Five-Spice Powder, which I have only (narrow-mindedly) used in savory dishes.
Chinese Five-Spice Powder is one of the essential seasonings used in Chinese cooking. It blends the five primary flavors of Chinese cuisine: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory. Traditionally, it is composed of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, clove, and Szechuan peppercorns, but in some regions, ginger is used instead of fennel. In looking at the list of ingredients, it makes perfect sense to use Chinese Five-Spice Powder in baking, perhaps instead of nutmeg or cinnamon, for a more complex and unexpected flavor. It is a pungent blend of spices, so a little definitely goes a long way.
These cakes are light and fluffy, like a cross between coffee cake and cornbread, with a nice, pleasant crunch from the cornmeal. The orange zest and Chinese Five-Spice Powder complement each other, giving the cake a nice hint of orange spice. They are not overly sweet, so they’re perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea. I served these for dessert, with a little unsweetened whipped cream.
As I read the recipe the first time, I imagined the cakes to be a bit rustic so instead of baking these in a muffin tin, I made individual cakes baked in mini cast-ron skillets. I love the presentation and it’s a nice transition as we head into fall.
Apricot Cornmeal Cakes
Yields approximately 12 cup cakes or 4 six-inch cakes
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup (8 ounces or 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 7 small ripe apricots, cut into 8 slices each
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ( I used 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup corn flour*)
1/2 cup fine ground cornmeal*
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Chinese Five-Spice Powder
Topping
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice Powder
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
*Note: I find regular coarse cornmeal to be too gritty and overly crunchy in baked goods so I use fine ground cornmeal, for a nice, slightly crunchy texture. I substituted some corn flour to give the cakes a little more corn flavor.)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly spray 4 individual 6-inch pans with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon orange zest and press down with a spoon to release the oils in the zest.
Using the a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar/orange zest mixture until extremely light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Add the eggs and extracts and mix until well incorporated, scraping the bowl with a spatula as needed.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and 2 teaspoons Chinese Five-Spice Powder. With the mixer running, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter/egg mixture until just combined. Do not over mix.
Scoop the batter into muffin tin or individual pans. Place apricot slices on the top. Mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the apricot cakes.
Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Adapted from A Spicy Perspective.
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its looking ravishing. would like to try it out once 🙂 keep posting such dishes.
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Looks tasty! I want to try making this at home.
Thanks alot! I hope you come back and let me know how it turned out.
daisy
I love the sound of this one! I’ve seen a few dessert/fruit recipes recently that contain Chinese 5 Spice. I love that addition! I bet this recipe would be perfect with just about any fruit! I’ll have to try this, but I’ll try it with less butter. Great post! Pinning this! =D
Beautiful! I love the presentation/composition of the apricots in the cakes… almost too pretty to eat!
Iy’s very good!!
Nice picture , looks beautiful
These look very pretty! 🙂
This looks delicious and I love the idea of using Chinese five spice (love the mini skillets too!)
Thank you very much, Jen!
daisy
gorgeous! Nectarines are my favourite… so delicious. I have cornmeal in the cupboard I keep meaning to use. Perhaps I’ll make some greengage cornmeal.
These look stunning! Beautiful pictures! Bookmarked!! 🙂
These look amazing Daisy! i love how cute you they are in the small cast iron skillet. Will be putting this one on my to-bake list. Pinning!
Gorgeous, stunning cakes, Daisy! And that addition of five-spice powder totally intrigues me. I’m adding these to the “must make” list!
Head into Fall?!??? Nooooo!!!! Love the idea of the Chinese 5 Spice; I’ve done anise with apricots and star anise would be beautiful …
Yes, girl! Blink and you missed it – summer is over!
daisy
gorgeous!
Thanks, Erica!
That looks delicious and I appreciate the symmetry. 🙂
Another bookmarked recipe from Daisy! Gorgeous. Your photographs are so lovely too.
Thank you so much! So are yours!
daisy
These are adorable! I love the mini cast iron skillets, and the apricot pattern is just perfect!
Thanks, Shae! Those mini skillets get used a lot at my house.
daisy