Lemon Squares
Dena Kleiman, Susan Mahnke Peery
2029 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,029
1 hour
Apricot Snack Cake
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-by-5-inch loaf
- 6tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes, plus more for greasing pan
- ½cup/55 grams sliced almonds
- ½cup/105 grams granulated sugar
- ½packed cup/70 grams light brown sugar
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 2large eggs
- 2teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1cup/142 grams all-purpose flour
- ¾cup/72 grams fine almond flour
- 8ounces ripe apricots, halved, pitted, then each half quartered
- Honey, whipped cream or ice cream, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Set a rack in the middle position of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan with butter.
- Step 2
On a rimmed baking sheet, spread almonds into a single layer and toast in the oven until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the 6 tablespoons butter, both sugars, the baking powder, baking soda and salt, and pulse until butter is pea-size. Add eggs and vanilla, and pulse until well blended. Add both flours and pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until well incorporated. Add apricots and pulse until fruit is finely chopped and mixture is almost smooth.
- Step 4
Using a spoon or flexible spatula, stir in toasted almonds. Scrape mixture into prepared pan and smooth top.
- Step 5
Bake until cake is golden on top and firm in the center, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 30 minutes. Slide a paring knife or small offset spatula along the sides of the pan to loosen the cake, then turn out cake and cool completely (or until lukewarm).
- Step 6
Slice the cake and enjoy it drizzled with honey, topped with whipped cream or ice cream, or as is.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
LyndaH
The fresh apricots contribute liquid to the recipe, so you'd need to simmer your dried apricots in a liquid to approximate the liquid supplied by the fresh apricots. In addition to the fresh apricots, I'm going to fold in diced dried apricots, plumped and drained, with the toasted almonds to amp up the apricot flavor.
CFXK
As with an algebra problem, you work from left to right with a recipe ingredient: "8 ounces ripe apricots, halved, pitted, then each half quartered" = 8 ounces of ripe apricots that you then halve, pit and quarter each half after weighing. This is not the same as "8 ounces of halved, pitted then each half quartered ripe apricots." which are weighed after having been halved, pitted and quartered. The left to right rule is the standard way ingredients are written.
Sarah
It would be so nice to have conversions of measurements into the metric system for your European subscribers !
Sabina
Pitted and the quarters halved: 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups
Taejinoma
Could you use dried apricots in this recipe? Or dried prunes?
MrsChill
We love this. Perfect use for our way overripe apricots. I didn’t weigh them..so probably over 8 oz by a bit. It doesn’t need anything- sweet and satisfying as is! And very tender and moist due to the almond flour/fruit. Trying not to use the oven in the summer heat so I made this in our convection toaster oven and it worked great. 325 for about 30 minutes but check soon and often!
Jenn
I'm planning to sub in GF all-purpose flour, since the textures and moisture content of "regular" and almond flours are different.
B.R. Adams
The recipe calls for 8 oz. of pitted and quartered apricots. I’d measure out 8 oz of quarters, which, of course, wouldn’t contain any pits.
john
Re measuring sticks of butter - I grew up with butter measured in oz. not tablespoons. So I mark out the stick with a knife and can then cut for tbsp. or for oz., depending what nationality of recipe I’m using. Grams- well, thank goodness for conversion apps.
Coquille
I used plums instead of apricots, and subbed in spelt flour for the all-purpose. That, in combination with the almond flour, made an amazingly moist cake!
Kerin Lescobar
I let this cook for an hour at 350 and it’s still pretty raw in the center. Maybe bc the fruit was so juicy but be prepared for this baby to sit in the oven for a while. Flavors delish tho!! I used plums instead of nectarines and it is super yummy.
CC
Made this cake with peaches. Can’t detect any peach at all. I’d say this is a good, base cake for adding on toppings as the recipe states. By itself is pretty plain.
LindaSue
Too sweet for my taste and the vanilla over whelmed the apricots. Will try again reducing the sugar and vanilla amounts as I like the method and the crumb texture was lovely.
Jen
Melissa Clark says 1 and 3/4 cups pitted sliced fruit - I might try blueberries!
corn maiden
Could I use all almond flour if I wanted to make it gluten free?
Lynn Feinson
Absolutely delicious.
Emily T
Oh this was so yummy! I made it with the suggested amount of almonds but also added 1/2 c. walnut pieces (toasted). I added a teaspoon of almond extract. And I skipped the whole food processor thing and made it in a stand mixer — just blended the apricots separately beforehand. I also used Bob’s 1:1 GF baking flour in lieu of the all purpose flour. The best part is I used the overripe apricots that came off the tree in my yard. Extremely snackable!
Boring
This is super bland.
Anna
I enjoyed this cake. I used peaches. I don’t have a food processor. I used a mixer for most of the ingredients and chopped the peaches into chunks. The juxtaposition of the peach chunks and crunchy almonds gives a nice texture. I also like how it is lightly sweetened with the option to add honey for those who like it sweeter
Kristen B
This was delicious. I used dried apricots that I simmered in boiling water for a few minutes as suggested and also used 1:1 GF flour. A very forgiving recipe that you could play around with. It was delicious as is but I agree with the commenter who suggested adding spices - a little cinnamon and nutmeg would be divine.
Kim
Since it is now apple season, I tried replacing the apricots with apples. I stirred diced apples in with the nuts. It worked great. I also tried this in a round cake pan - also worked great.
mdolan
I used a combo of dried and fresh apricots. The fresh apricot, I purchased practically from the tree, and absolutely no flavor. I have never had a fresh one with any flavor. Glad I threw in some dried as this tea bread would have had no flavor.
MrsChill
We love this. Perfect use for our way overripe apricots. I didn’t weigh them..so probably over 8 oz by a bit. It doesn’t need anything- sweet and satisfying as is! And very tender and moist due to the almond flour/fruit. Trying not to use the oven in the summer heat so I made this in our convection toaster oven and it worked great. 325 for about 30 minutes but check soon and often!
S
Delicious flavor but sunk in the middle and fell apart when I turned it out, despite following instructions exactly regarding cooling, toothpick text, etc. Will make again but try baking for 50-55 rather than 40.
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