JEWELED APRICOT-ALMOND BUNDT
Here, smooth, sweet almond paste replaces some of the butter in pound cake while adding its own nutty richness and making the cake’s crumb even finer. Whole wheat flour and yogurt keep the buttery cake from tasting too heavy, while the tartness of California apricots balances the sweetness. The dried fruits look festive, but what makes this cake perfect for entertaining is how well it keeps. In fact, the flavors improve over time. You can make the cake well ahead and shower it with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
TIPS:
• Be sure to buy almond paste, not marzipan, which is sweeter.
• Use California apricots, which are chewier and tarter than the paler orange Turkish ones.
makes one 10-inch Bundt cake
- 1¼ cups (180 g) white whole wheat flour
- 1¼ cups (178 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces (198 g) almond paste, chopped or broken into chunks (⅔ packed cup)
- 1½ cups (312 g) sugar
- 1 cup (184 g) dried tart apricots
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 cup (261 g) plain whole-milk yogurt
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF. Coat a 12-cup (10-inch) Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. Whisk the whole wheat flour, ¾ cup (107 g) of the all-purpose flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Pulse the almond paste with the sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a mixer bowl. Combine the apricots and the remaining ½ cup (71 g) all-purpose flour in the food processor and pulse until the apricots are chopped.
3. Add the butter to the almond-sugar mixture and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl and beating until smooth after each addition. Beat in the almond and lemon extracts. Scrape the bowl. Turn the speed to low and add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the yogurt in 2 additions, mixing until each addition is incorporated before adding the next. Add the apricot mixture and mix just until it is evenly distributed and all traces of flour have disappeared. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.
4. Bake until a thin skewer inserted in the domed part of the cake comes out clean, about 1¼ hours.
5. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto the wire rack, lift off the pan, and cool completely.
MAKE AHEAD
The cake will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
