Apricots and I go back a long way.
Growing up, I always had a “Paradise Cake” for my birthday. The cake was two layers of yellow cake slathered with a tangy dried apricot puree and covered in coconut. I’ve tried to find the recipe online but, so far no luck.
This year the apricots here have been subpar until last Sunday when I found some beautiful ones at the large Long Beach (California) Farmer’s Market on Second Street. They were about twice as large as the golf-ball sized apricots in my local supermarkets. And, they have that sweet tang that, I think, distinguishes the apricot from most of the other stone fruits.
So, I was off to make an apricot cake. This recipe if from Yossy Arefi’s widely-acclaimed little cake cookbook, Snacking Cakes. Her cookbook is available through your local bookstore or on Amazon here. It’s a small cookbook with a large collection of inventive cake recipes. It is such a favorite of mine that I’ve gifted it to several friends.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Apricot Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter
- 5-6 large apricots
- 3/4 C. plus 1 T. sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 t. almond extract
- 1 t. orange-blossom water
- 3/4 t. kosher salt
- 1 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 C. almond flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 3 T. sliced almonds
Directions
- Step 1 Line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment. Let the long ends of the parchment hang over two of the edges of the pan. These longer ends of parchment will serve as handles to help you remove the delicate cake from the pan without breaking it.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 3 Melt the butter and brown it. You want the browned butter to be a golden brown and you want it to have a nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter because browning takes place quickly.
- Step 4 Slice the apricots. (Do not peel the apricots.)
- Step 5 Using a large bowl, add the browned (and slightly cooled) butter to the pan along with the sugar. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, almond extract, orange-blossom water, and salt to the butter mixture. Whisk to combine all the ingredients.
- Step 6 Add all-purpose flour to the butter mixture along with the almond flour and the baking powder. Whisk to combine. You are aiming for a smooth batter at this step.
- Step 7 Spoon the batter in to the square cake pan you have lined with parchment. Smooth the top of the batter with an offset spatula. Arrange the apricot slices artfully on top of the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 1 T. of sugar on top of the apricots. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Your cake will be done when a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with only a few crumbs on it. Cool the cake. (Cook’s Note: This cake can be served on the day it is baked, but I find it to be perfectly moist on the day after it is baked.) Refrigerate any unlikely leftovers..
