There are all kinds of food awards around…Michelin Stars, the Bocuse d’Or, and on and on. Here at Blue Cayenne we think we need an award for particularly wonderful recipes, too. So, we’re introducing The Juliet, named, of course, after our beloved Chief Taster and Chief Quality Officer (CQO) Juliet.
Our first-ever Juliet goes to this sweet Almond-Apricot Cake With Creme Fraiche.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of my favorite cakes…ever. (Keep in mind that I’ve eaten more cakes in my day than I care to mention.)
What’s so special about this little cake? It’s light. It is incredibly moist. The crumb is fine to the point of elegance. The combined flavor of lots of almond paste and vanilla is superb. The cake is laced with slices of fresh stone fruits (in this case apricots an a few slices of yellow nectarines) which makes for a remarkable taste surprise as you savor the cake.
If you haven’t baked with almond paste, you can buy it in most supermarkets and on Amazon. Almond paste is a mixture of ground almonds and sugar. It looks like marzipan but marzipan, also made of almonds and sugar, is firmer in texture. Food historians believe that almond paste was first used in either China or the Middle East. It was widely used in the elaborate pastries baked during the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. Today almond paste is widely used in cookies, breakfast pastries and in cakes like this one.
Here is the recipe.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 C. cake flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1 1/4 C. granulated sugar
- 1 C. almond paste (9 ounces)
- 6 T. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 6 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 t. pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste--it includes vanilla seeds)
- 4 large apricots (halved, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch wedges) (I also used a few slices of yellow nectarines. You could substitute in any stone fruit.)
- Creme fraiche for serving
- Sliced almonds for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9-inch springform pan by greasing it thoroughly and flouring it.
- Mix cake flour (I used King Arthur Flour cake flour) with baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Set up your standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Add sugar and almond paste to the mixer bowl and beat the ingredients until they are combined and the texture is "crumbly." (This is a sweet cake. You could reduce the sugar to your taste.) Add the room-temperature butter and beat at a high speed until the mixture turns light in color and a little fluffy. This will take about two minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Beat after the addition of each egg and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract (or vanilla paste). Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, gently folding the flour into the sugar mixture until it is fully incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into your prepared springform pan. Add sliced apricots (and optional nectarines) by placing them on top of the batter in the pan. They will sink into the cake as it bakes. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove baked cake from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Loosen the cake from the pan by running a knife around the edge of the pan and remove it from the springform pan. Let the cake cool for another 30 minutes on a rack.
- Serve this cake either warm or at room temperature. Top it with creme fraiche, slices of fresh apricots and sliced almonds.
This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Food and Wine magazine here.
