I’m really feeling into gorgeous fruity cakes now, so I’m attempting, (with little success) to get them out of my system. This pretty little cake was inspired by an apricot jam, sour cream and toasted almond cupcake recipe that I am dying to make. Sadly, I haven’t had all the ingredients, in the house, at the same time yet and with our impending move, I’m trying not to buy anything that I don’t actually need to survive. (I can make a convincing argument for cupcakes being integral to my survival but that’s for another time). Since I had fresh apricots that were begging to be baked into something delightful, I decided to go with a cake instead. The basic cake recipe/ratios that I started with came from one of my favorite blogs, but I have changed it around a bit, made it bigger and a bit sweeter as well, since the apricots in Israel are quite sour, even when ripe. The top has an almost custardy texture, which is delicious and lends a wonderful creaminess to the apricots. I considered using brown or demerera sugar instead of the white, but went for the classic, simpler flavor of the white in the end. I used vanilla to round out the sourness of the apricots, but I think it would also be fantastic with some almond extract or amaretto, so feel free to experiment!

Ingredients: (serves 10)



For the cake:

– 5-7 very ripe apricots, washed and cut into slices

– 2 cups flour

– 1 teaspoon baking powder

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

– 150 grams butter (basically 1 and 1/3 stick of butter)

– 1/2 cup milk (approximately)

– 2 tablespoons cream (15%, not heavy whipping)

– 3/4 cup sugar

– 1 egg

– 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the top:

– 1 tablespoon sour cream

– 1 tablespoon sugar

– 1 egg

Right before serving:

– powdered sugar

– vanilla ice cream

Method: Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F) and grease or line a 12 inch spring-form pan with baking paper. I always use baking paper and clean up is nonexistent.

1) In a big bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and butter with your hands, pinching it all together until it is almost all incorporated. Alternately you can use a food processor.

2) Add in the sugar, and mix again. Add in the egg, vanilla, cream, and milk, then mix again until just combined, being careful not to over mix. The batter should be thick, bot pourable, so if it is too stiff, add more milk as needed.

3) Pour the batter into the pan and spread it around evenly with a spatula. Arrange the apricots on top, in a spiral pattern.

4) In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar and egg for the topping, beating them with a fork, and pour it evenly over the top of the cake.

5) Bake for about 35 minutes, (I cooked it for 40 minutes, as you can see in the top photo that was too long, so I reduced the cooking time to 35 minutes) or until golden and the apricots are tender. Turn off the oven and let it sit for another 15 minutes or so. I did this with the oven door open slightly open so that it wouldn’t dry out. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving, and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a truly awesome experience.