Apricot Almond Cake Recipe

The combination of juicy, vibrant apricots and nutty, rich almonds is a match made in heaven, especially when baked into a moist cake. This recipe, brought to us by Catherine Brookes, is simple yet sophisticated, bursting with fresh fruit and infused with almond deliciousness in every bite.

This easy cake has a wonderful balance of flavors, and with just a few simple steps, you can create a dessert that feels equally wholesome and special. The fresh apricots not only add moisture and natural sweetness, but they act as a decoration, which gives the cake a gorgeous look. These sunny little fruits boast a flavor profile that's both tangy and tart, giving the cake its unique fruity taste. A scattering of flaked almonds is the elegant final touch, which brings crunch and even more nutty flavor to the tender cake. 

A standout ingredient in this recipe is the almond meal, which is a wonderful way to bring moisture and a subtly sweet nuttiness to bakes. You'll find that the almond meal transforms the texture of the cake, making it perfectly tender. The result is a bake that serves as the perfect treat for summer gatherings with friends and family.

This easy recipe combines delicious fresh ingredients with simple pantry staples. For the wet ingredients, you'll need unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, and milk. Then, we add the dry ingredients, which are all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and almond meal. Once the batter has been whipped up and transferred into your prepared cake pan, we add the delicious final touch — halved and pitted fresh apricots, plus a scattering of flaked almonds. 

If preferred, you can substitute the almond meal for almond flour here. Almond meal (also known as ground almonds) is typically courser in texture and made with unblanched almonds, whilst almond flour is much finer since the almonds have been blanched and very finely ground into a powder. You might find that the cake comes out slightly lighter and fluffier if using almond flour, but both meal and flour will give the cake that lovely moist and tender texture.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat on a medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about four minutes.

Add the eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk, and two tablespoons of the flour. Beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, salt, and almond meal.

Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and beat on a low speed until just combined.

Transfer the mixture to your prepared pan and smooth out in an even layer.

Push the apricot halves on top of the cake, scatter with the flaked almonds, and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer poked into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too much, you can cover it with foil.

Leave the cake in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Slice and serve the apricot almond cake.

Apricots pair exceptionally well with almonds, but there are a range of other fruits that we think could serve as an equally wonderful replacement. Firstly, peaches or nectarines will add a similar sweet yet tart flavor to the cake, and provide that same sunny, vibrant color when arranged on top of the cake in slices. Another stone fruit that would make a great swap is the sweet and juicy plum. Since they're close in size and shape to apricots, you can halve them and decorate with them in exactly the same way.

Another way to add moisture and delicate sweetness to the cake is with pears. These are pretty versatile as they work well sliced, diced, or kept in larger halves for added visual appeal. They'll bring their unique, slightly floral flavor and a more firm texture.

Finally, cherry and almond is a timeless pairing and cherries are a fruit that's easy to add. Just halve and pit the cherries and scatter them all over the top of the cake with the flaked almonds before baking. Their vibrant color and sweetness will give the cake a beautiful twist.

You can certainly make this apricot almond cake gluten-free. You'll only need to make one or two simple substitutions, and you won't be compromising the flavor or texture of this delicious cake. The key ingredient that needs switching here is the all-purpose flour, since this is made with gluten-containing wheat. Luckily, gluten-free flour blends, which aim to replicate the effect that all-purpose flour has in bakes and other recipes, are readily available in most large grocery stores. These usually contain a mixture of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and sometimes buckwheat flour. The blends will often also have xanthan gum added which helps to give bakes structure. Since this cake already has a portion of its flour subbed for almond meal, which is naturally gluten-free, it's just that ⅔ cup of all-purpose flour that you need to replace.

The only other ingredient to check in this recipe is the baking powder. Most brands of baking powder are naturally gluten-free, but be sure to check the label just in case there are any sneaky additives. If you'd prefer to ditch the flour altogether, this can be done. Just sub the flour in the recipe for extra almond meal, but keep in mind that your cake will turn out a little denser in texture.