I’m obsessed with this fresh apricot cake right now. It’s nothing fancy but it’s perfect for summer, especially if you’re going to have coffee and cake with family. The slightly lemon-y vanilla cake is simple, fluffy and pairs wonderuflly with the slightly tart apricots. Apparently, it’s something I’ve been missing in my life here because I’m having such a hard time not devouring all of it at once. That’s rare for me.
When I found this recipe, I was just looking for a way to use up a bunch of freshly picked apricots that were ripening quicker than I expected. Happily, I was able to adapt it so it’s easier to make without a 11 inch (28 cm) springform pan – a size more commonly found in German baking than North American. Simple cakes like this made with fresh fruit are pretty popular in Germany in the summer or early fall as seasonal treats. I’m happy to finally have an easy one in my repertoire.
Aprikosenkuchen just means “apricot cake” and as with most other types of cakes, there are many different kinds out there. This one is made with a basic version of a German sponge cake, or Rührteig. It’s something you can quickly throw together with too much fuss. Though it calls for fresh fruit I think using canned apricots would work here as well. I’ve tried this in both a 9″ springform pan and a 8×8 square baking pan. Both worked but the 8×8 square makes for a thicker, more pillow-y cake. The springform does have a somewhat prettier presentation.
Fresh Apricot Cake
(Aprikosenkuchen)
Ingredients:
- 6 – 8 ripe Apricots (quartered)
- 5 tablespoons of Butter, softened
- 1/3 of Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg and 1 Yolk
- 1 tsp of Lemon Zest
- 1 cup of Flour
- 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of Salt
- 1/8 cup of Buttermilk
Equipment:
- Electric Mixer (stand or handheld)
- 8×8 square baking dish
Technically, this recipe calls for 3/4 of a teaspoon of lemon zest. If you like a little extra lemon like I do, go for the full teaspoon. If you want more subtle, go for 3/4. Alternately, you could also use orange zest.
The number of apricots you use will be dictated by their size, of course. I often try to start out with 8, but rarely use up the whole 8. You can also leave the apricots as halves, instead of quarters.
Preperation:
Grease your butter dish with either butter and flour or just a quick pass of baking spray. I’m using the latter because I’m lazy.
Quarter your apricots and set them aside.
Zest your lemon.
I always find it hard when a recipe calls for the zest of one lemon, or a half a lemon. Fruit often varies in size. Exact amounts seem easier to me. Did you know that one medium sized lemon is supposed to yield about 1 tablespoon of zest?
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together and set aside.
Mixing:
Start by creaming the 5 tablespoons of softened butter, 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract on medium speed.
Add the egg and egg yolk in one at a time, mixing each in completely. Then add your lemon zest and mix again.
Pour the flour mixture into the mixing bowl. Start mixing on a low speed until the flour is past the “floof out of the bowl” stage and then switch back to medium.
Add in the buttermilk and once mixed, the dough should look like this.
I’m not posting any time frames for the mixing because I didn’t feel like they were needed. I just mixed until it looked well incorporated and then moved on to the next ingredient. It’s a pretty forgiving dough.
Also, I never keep buttermilk on hand. I always make it with milk (or almond milk) and vinegar shortly before I get started. Lemon juice works too. For this, I use almost 1/2 of a teaspoon of vinegar with the 1/8 cup of milk. That’s not quite exactly correct since the ratio is 1 cup of milk to 1 tablespoon of vinegar. However, it’s close enough. If you want more info, here’s a good article from the Kitchn.
Cake Assembly:
Spread the dough evenly in your prepared baking dish with a spatula.
Line up your apricot pieces in any fashion you wish but make sure the cut side is down. Lightly press the pieces down into the dough.
Bake the cake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Another good indication that it’s done is the toothpick test.
The riper the apricots, the more they’ll start to wrinkle after the cake has cooled off and the sweeter they’ll be in the cake.
There!
Very simple recipe for delicious, summertime apricot cake or for when you have extra apricots lying around! Be sure to try a piece when the cake is still a little warm. The apricots should be nice and gooey like jam. Yummy!
It does not keep too terribly long, especially if the weather is hot (we have no A/C up here). Probably won’t be much of a problem since it’s so easy to eat right up.
I do believe that this cake dough would work great with other fruit as well. Might have to try out cherries at some point but for now I’m perfectly happy with this apricot cake just as it is.
Do you have a favourite summertime cake?
As always,
und Alles Liebe,
Diony
Fresh Apricot cake
Ingredients
- 6 – 8 ripe Apricots quartered
- 5 tablespoons of Butter softened
- 1/3 cup of Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg and 1 Yolk
- 1 teaspoon of Lemon Zest
- 1 cup of Flour
- 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of Salt
- 1/8 cup of Buttermilk
Instructions
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Grease the 8x8 baking pan and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350. Mix flour together with baking soda and salt and set aside.
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Cream softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer on medium. Mix in the egg and egg yolk, one at a time. Then add the lemon zest and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture on medium speed. Lastly, add the buttermilk and mix until batter is smooth.
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Spread the batter evenly into the greased 8x8 baking pan with a spatula. Arrange apricots with the cut side down on top and press lightly down into the dough.
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Bake at 350 degrees on the middle rack for 25 - 30 minutes, or until edges start to brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
You can substitute orange zest for the lemon.
Adapted from Jennifer McGavin - About.com
Omg so yummy!
Oh my…love it…enjoy…
This” Kuchen” can be made with all kind of different fruit, which you mention. Unfortunately the season is already over here in Missouri. Also some of them are flavorless here in the US. When we were in New Mexico, the apricots there had much more flavor. There were many trees on private property, but we could not believe it, most of them laid on the ground and people did not harvest them. We ask. if we can have some and they were delicious.
I’m often amazed at how many fruit trees, on both public and private properties, up here in Washington simply don’t get harvested. What other kinds of fruit would you use with this Kuchen?
This cake looks so dreamy. Pinning for later! 🙂
OMG !! its looking so yummy and I bet its delicious soon going to try this recipe in kitchen. Thanks for sharing this recipe with full details.
I am confused about the baking soda in one part and baking powder in another. Buttermilk does need baking soda. Therefore I usted 3/4 tsp bkg powder an 1/4 tspbaking soda.
It came out good. Apricots were tart but powdered sugar fixed that.
Thank you for letting me know there was an error. It’s definitely supposed to just be baking powder but the combination of both powder and soda definitely works.