Golden Apricot Cake Recipes

Steps:

• For Cake:
• Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Dust pans with flour. Sift first 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Blend Apricot Puree, pumpkin and buttermilk in small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Smooth tops. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (cakes will not rise to tops of pans).
• For Frosting:
• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl until fluffy. Add Apricot Puree, pumpkin and spices and beat until blended. Cut around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn out cakes. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over. Top with second cake layer. Spread 1 cup frosting over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cake. Garnish with dried apricot cutouts, if desired. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in the bowl of a standing mixer equipped with a paddle attachment. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar, the eggs, orange zest, vanilla, and 1 stick of butter. Gradually add the flour and salt, beating until mixed. Cover the bowl and leave for an hour, or until the dough has about doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 10-inch round pan with some of the second stick of butter.
• Melt what is left of the second stick of butter plus the remaining half stick and put it in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the walnuts, brown sugar, remaining white sugar, cinnamon, and the cake or cookie crumbs.
• Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick circle. Using a 1-inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut circles of dough. Dip the circles first in the butter, then in the nut mixture and set in the pan, almost touching each other. After a layer is completed, spoon on dollops of jam. Make a second layer, filling in the holes with dough, then jam, continuing and rerolling until the dough is used up, ending with the walnut topping but not the jam. Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Leave in the pan for a few minutes, then turn onto a plate and serve warm. You can either cut the cake or pull the sections apart. Serve for a sweet breakfast treat, or as a dessert, served with good vanilla or rum raisin ice cream.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine apricots and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-22 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool. , Place bottom pastry in a 9-in. pie plate. Drain apricots, reserving 3/4 cup liquid. Arrange apricots in pie shell. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and reserved apricot liquid., Pour over apricots; dot with butter. Top with a lattice crust. Bake at 400° for 50-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Steps:

• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°F. Pulse almonds and 1/3 cup sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Add egg and pulse to combine. Add butter, almond extract (if using), vanilla extract, salt, and 1 Tbsp. flour; pulse until almond cream is smooth.
• Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface just to smooth out any creases.
• If you're using a package of pastry that has 2 sheets, stack and roll out to a 1/4"-1/8"-thick rectangle.
• If your package contains a single 16x10" sheet of puff pastry, halve it crosswise and roll out one half on a lightly floured surface until rectangle is 1/4"-1/8" thick; save remaining half for another use. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fold over edges of pastry to make a 1/2" border around all sides. Prick surface all over with a fork (this keeps the pastry from rising too much when baked and helps it cook through). Spread almond cream over pastry, staying inside borders. (Chill dough in the freezer for a few minutes if it becomes too soft to work with.) Set apricots, cut sides up, on top of almond cream. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
• Bake galette until pastry is golden brown and puffed, 15-20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F and continue to bake until pastry is deep golden brown and cooked through and apricots are softened and browned in spots, 15-20 minutes longer.
• Do Ahead:
• Almond cream can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Steps:

• Tip the sugar into a deep, ovenproof frying pan. Place over a high heat until caramelised, remove from the heat, then lay the apricots, cut side down, in the caramel, quartering some of the apricots to fit into the gaps. Set aside. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
• To make the cake batter, use an electric whisk to cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the milk and saffron, if using. Fold in the flours and ground almonds, then beat until combined.
• Spoon dollops of the batter over the apricots and smooth over with the back of a spoon. Bake for 40 mins until puffed up and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10 mins. Invert the cake onto a plate and leave to cool. Cut into wedges. Serve with crème fraîche, if you like.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the topping: Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan or an 8-inch square baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread the brown sugary mix in an even layer on the bottom of the pan.
• Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits. Arrange the apricots, flesh-side down, evenly over the bottom of the pan.
• Prepare the cake batter: Add the flour to a medium bowl. Sift in the almond flour, then use your fingertips to break up any clumps that don't fit through the sieve. Add the baking powder and salt to the bowl and whisk to combine.
• In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, or in a stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium until combined and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, then the eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, mixing to combine. Continue alternating the additions of flour and milk and mixing, scraping down the sides of the bowl, just until all is combined. (Make sure not to overmix during this step.)
• Spread the batter in an even layer over the apricot halves. Bake until the cake is set and doesn't jiggle when shaken, is golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
• Remove pan from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. With the cake still in the pan, turn the pan over onto a serving platter. Wait 1 minute, then remove the pan. This cake is excellent warm, but it's also delicious at room temperature.