Upside Down Almond Apricot Skillet Cake {A Tuesdays with Dorie Post}

Sometimes there is just no story to go with a recipe.  I don't always have a soulful narrative to go with the recipe for each and every cake I post.  There are times when a cake is just a cake and the only reason I made it was because it sounded good at the time.  And because I got so excited about the apricots I found at the market that I couldn't help but buy three pounds of them as if I would never see them again.  And that really is the only story here.

So here is a cake that is just a cake.  Made with a few from the many pounds of apricots I felt I could sacrifice before turning the rest into jam.  But really, could I give you a cake that was ONLY a cake?  It's a Tuesdays with Dorie cake, which means that it comes from a book curated by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child.  Meaning that it can't be just any ordinary cake.  This one is a lovely upside down cake with a tender crumb and lightly caramelized fruit and nut topping.

It's a cake that will make you smile.  A cake that you can serve with tea to a group of your favorite people.  It's a cake that makes a great after school snack with a big cup of milk.  It's one of those cakes that will become a go-to.  It is anything but ordinary.  It's extraordinariness comes from its simplicity and versatility and also from its ability to bring you comfort on a rainy spring afternoon.  I think that takes this cake far beyond the ordinary.

Because I can't leave well enough alone, I couldn't hep but fiddle with the original recipe.  You can find the recipe as written in Baking with Julia on the blog of our host this week, Erin (When in Doubt...Leave it at 350).  And here's a list of the changes that I made: 

::I swapped out the rhubarb for apricots (3 apricots, halved and each half sliced into fifths)
::I used sliced almonds instead of the pecans and amaretto in place of the bourbon in the topping
::I didn't have creme fraiche, so greek yogurt took its place
::To up the almond factor, I replaced 2/3 cup of the all purpose flour with almond flour
::Oh, and I turned the cakes from several small cakes into one large one baked in a cast iron skillet

Check out how the other bakers fared with their ability to follow a recipe over at the Tuesdays with Dorie site.  I really enjoyed this recipe and think you, my friends, will too if you give it a try.