apricot almond cake
As you can see from my previous post – apricot pistachio bars – I still have an box of apricots in my house that need to be used. This cake is great to eat with coffee in the morning or with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. While the apricots do look pretty at the bottom of the cake, they were meant to stay near the top. However the look didn't take away from the taste and I was still content with the final product. If you make this for guests don't tell them the apricots weren't supposed to sink if that happens.... they will never know. ;)
what you need: Makes 1 9-inch cake
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp (175g) sugar
1 cup (230 ml) milk
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped*
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp (100 ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (25g) ground almonds
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
5-6 apricots, cut into quarters
flaked almonds, for sprinkling
*I just used about a tsp. of vanilla bean paste
what to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly butter and flour a 9x9 inch round springform cake pan and line the base with parchment paper.
2. Place the sugar, milk, lemon zest and scraped vanilla bean seeds with the pod in a medium saucepan over low heat and bring just barely to a simmer while stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 15 minutes to infuse and cool down. 3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Whisk through ground almonds.
5. Add the olive oil, beaten eggs and cooled milk mixture and whisk gently to form a smooth batter.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and arrange the apricot quarters on top any way you like. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
7. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the sides and leaving to cool completely. If you are using very small apricots, they may plummet to the bottom of the tin during baking. To avoid this, make a double layer of apricot quarters.**
**mine fell to the bottom :( but it still tasted good.
Recipe from: Scientifically Sweet
http://www.christinamarsigliese.com/2015/05/apricot-almond-olive-oil-cake.html
