All good hosts need an easy cake recipe in their back pocket. One that requires few ingredients, preferably ones you already have on hand. One that can be thrown together quickly, during those quiet moments before your guests wake up. One that can pass as breakfast, or as an afternoon treat, or as an anytime snack for guests to pick at between meals.
This apricot-almond coffee cake can be that cake. It’s a one-bowl mix-and-dump affair for the most part, but the combo of the sliced almonds, almond extract and jam create more complex flavors. I made this cake for breakfast while my parents were hosting an alarming number of a few weekends ago, and they converged so quickly that I could barely get some decent photos.
The one downside of making this cake for guests? It’ll disappear before you can even enjoy it. Cake this good deserves to be savored.
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Almond-Apricot Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 1/4 cup crème fraîche (or sour cream)
- 1–1/2 cups sugar, plus 1-1/2 teaspoons for sprinkling
- 2 eggs
- 1–1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup seedless apricot or raspberry jam
- 1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter, crème fraîche or sour cream, and 1-1/2 cups sugar and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and mix until just combined.
- Add the flour, salt, and almond extract. Mix well, then pour into the prepared pan. Spread the jam over the cake batter (the batter will be sticky so this might be tough). Shower the cake with almonds and remaining sugar.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown. Let the cake cool for 1 hour before serving.
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