Apricot Tea Cake

Last Sunday, after having morning coffee with a good friend at our neighborhood coffee shop, I made my way to the co-op. And much to my surprise there they were - the first batch of apricots this season! I was so excited I couldn't contain myself, I instantly bagged up three pounds and decided I'd figure out what to do with them later. I love apricots - they are my favorite fruit. My excitement was slightly tempered when I realized they were from California, I'd prefer they be a bit more local than that, but I was so excited all I could do was start brainstorming about what I wanted to do with them. I knew pretty quickly that I'd look to one of my favorite cookbooks, Rustic Fruit Desserts, for inspiration. The recipe that follows is adapted from a recipe I found there, called Stone-Fruit Tea Cake. As the original recipe's name implies any stone fruit or a mix of a few will do. Because almonds compliment apricots particularly well, I substituted almond extract for part of the vanilla extract and sprinkled sliced almonds on top.

Ingredients:
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
10 apricots, washed, pitted and sliced
¼ cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon turbinado (demerara) sugar

Combine butter and sugar in a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Cream until light and fluffy (~5 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each time until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the extracts and mix to combine. 

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to the wet ingredients mixing until just combined. The dough will be sticky. Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and coat with non-stick spray. Scrap the dough into the center of the plastic, wrap up and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare the apricots, slicing each apricot into six pieces. If the apricots aren’t really ripe and fragrant you may want to toss them with two tablespoons sugar. Spray a 10-inch tart pan with non-stick spray. Remove the dough from the freezer and divide in half. Evenly press half of the dough into the bottom of the tart pan. Spread the apricots evenly over the dough. Take the remaining dough and pinch off pieces approximately a tablespoon in size and place evenly over apricots. Bake for 45 minutes. 

I love this cake! It has the perfect sweetness to compliment the tanginess of the apricots. And it lives up to its namesake as a tea cake, it is so light that it would be the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon tea (or coffee).

Bon appetit!