Recipe: Almond Apricot Pound Cake (using almond paste and amaretto)

ALMOND APRICOT POUND CAKE

1 1/2 cups blanched almonds, lightly toasted
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided use
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces almond paste
6 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup amaretto (or other almond liqueur)
1/4 cup apricot brandy (or orange brandy)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream (not fat-free or reduced-fat)
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
Powdered sugar (for serving)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add 12 cups of water to a 10-inch tube pan (Bundt) to make sure it is deep enough to hold cake batter. Empty and dry pan. Grease with butter or shortening. Dust with flour, tapping out excess.

Process the almonds and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor until finely ground; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the remaining 3 cups of sugar for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the mixture is very fluffy and pale. Add the almond paste and beat until blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently during the remaining mixing: This is a large batter, and you want to ensure everything is properly distributed.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the almond extract, vanilla, amaretto and apricot brandy; set aside.

Sift together the flours, salt and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the creamed batter in three additions, alternately with the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Add reserved almond mixture, fold in the chopped apricots and scrape the batter into the prepared pan, up to within an inch of the top, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula. If you have excess batter, bake rest in greased muffin tins.

Bake the cake in the center of the oven for 1 1/2 hours to 1 3/4 hours, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Run a thin-bladed knife around the outside of the cake and the center tube and remove from pan. Allow the cake to cool completely.

It keeps very well at room temperature for up to 4 days, stored in an airtight cake dome or well-wrapped in plastic, and it may also be frozen for up to 2 months, wrapped securely, and thawed, without disturbing the wrapping, at room temperature.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Makes 1 (10-inch) tube or Bundt cake
Adapted from source: In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley