Loquat Upside-Down Cake

Heat 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1/4 cup of water; as soon as it starts to boil, add in 1/2 teaspoon of elderflowers, remove the saucepan from the heat, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it cool. Heat an empty saucepan over medium heat; add in 1/4 cup of sugar a little at a time, stirring to prevent it from burning: it should be slightly golden.|Once the sugar has melted (it should take about 5 minutes), remove it from the heat and add the juice of 1/4 lemon, a little at a time, and stir well to obtain a caramel.

Line a round 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, then pour in the caramel and

even it out. Peel the loquats (you can substitute them for apricots, if you like); open them in half and remove the pit, then arrange them in a sunburst pattern on top of the caramel, with the concave part facing upwards.|Whisk together 3 egg yolks and the remaining sugar, then add in

the elderflower infusion (after straining it), the almond flour, the 00 flour, the melted butter,

and a bit of lemon zest; mix for a few minutes until everything is thoroughly combined. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture, then spread it on top of the loquats and even it out.|Bake in a convection oven at 350°F for about 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool; place a dish on top and turn it over to remove it from the pan. Decorate the top with some chopped almonds, fresh loquat slices, and elderflowers to taste.

This recipe and others can be found in edition No. 6 of La Cucina Italiana, June 2015.