Blame it on the jam. It is what started the chain of events that led to this Apricot Buttermilk Coffee Cake. There I was perusing the items in one of the close-out stores and noticed a jar of apricot jam. It was not preserves, not jelly, but jam. I picked up the jar and looked at it closely to make sure it did not have chunks of fruit inside. Yes, I prefer smooth, non-chunky jam over jelly or preserves. Into the cart it went and then was placed in my pantry as soon as I arrived home.
The jar kept hinting at me to use it. I swear gremlins were putting it front and center so I would see it each time I opened the pantry door. Then an open bag of dried apricots started chiming in and so the nagging had to end. Apricots remind me of Germany for some reason. Germans do love their afternoon coffee and cake time. The decision on what to make was easy. All I needed was buttermilk.
How is the Apricot Buttermilk Coffee Cake? It is a single layer cake topped with pecans and glazed. Under those pecans are swirls of apricot jam. The cake is loaded with bits of apricots and not overly sweet. It goes wonderfully with coffee and I'm sure it would also pair nicely with tea.
Do new finds at a store inspire you to cook or bake? It absolutely does for me. Traveling does it for me too. I'll be going to Germany with my mom in October. Enjoying afternoon cake and coffee while we are there will certainly make my to-do list grow. Celeriac Salad and German Apple Cake are a couple of recipes inspired by my last visit. There are still more I haven't shared yet. Stay tuned…
Apricot Buttermilk Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup diced dried apricots
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
- ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar divided
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup apricot jam or preserves
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
For the glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners sugar sifted
- 2 ½ tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan. For easier removal of cake from the pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and lightly grease parchment.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the apricot pieces and whisk to combine.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, ½ cup sugar, and butter in a separate bowl.
- Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to until just combined.
- Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
- Dollop jam by teaspoonfuls over batter and swirl with a knife.
- Sprinkle walnuts on top of batter. Sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon sugar on top of walnuts.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool cake in the pan for 7 minutes on a wire rack. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
For the glaze:
- Stir together confectioners sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake.
Notes
Recipe adapted from one in the Southern Living Magazine October 2013 edition.
This cake looks so beautiful and delicious, Renee! I rarely eat desserts featuring apricots. I need to this in my life, asap!
Thanks Nancy and I'd love to see what you would make or bake with apricots.
it looks gorgeous!
Thank you Dina
This cake looks so moist, Renee. I bet it's delicious!
It sure is delicious. Thanks Becca.
The German half of my brain is drooling all over the Russian half of my brain!
Must be quite drippy in your head right now. Thank you Anita for leaving such a nice and fun comment that made me smile.
I love trying different jams and jellies and preserves. Apricot has always been one of my favorites and I swear I can taste this cake through the screen I know the flavors so well.
I want to make this coffee cake again with different flavors too.
Oh yum! This looks wonderful and of course, we have apricots hanging low in the trees here right now so this is perfect!
Oh lucky you to have those apricot trees around. Please pick and eat some for me.
I tried this recipe tonight and didn't like it at all.
I felt there wasn't enough apricots and it was very bread-y.
The apricot jam on top don't do anything either in terms of taste/ flavour. All in all it was a waste of time and effort.
So sorry you did not enjoy the recipe.
Simply delicious and moist.
I was in the mood for an apricot dessert and found your recipe. I too had some ready-to-eat dried apricots and delicious apricot preserves on hand. I did not have any walnuts so I substituted pecans. I prepared the recipe as instructed except I did bump up the amount of chopped apricots and preserves to 1/3 cup each. I also increased the pecans to 1/2 cup. I don’t feel increasing these items altered the recipe other than adding a little more apricot yumminess.
I also added just 1/4 tsp of vanilla to the glaze.
I usually prepare recipes as written the first time I make them, but this recipe was such that I didn’t feel the outcome would be altered by slightly adjusting the amounts of the fruit and nuts.
Delicious cake, so easy and quick to prepare. My husband said we definitely need to add it to our favorites list. Thank you!
Hi Renee. Curious on using jam. Don't know where it would go in recipe on top? I have frozen apricots I plan on putting in the cake batter? Would you please explain how to incorporate the jam?? Thank you. It looks wonderful. Want to make it n take on our camping trip this weekend...
I'd defrost and dice the apricots before they go into the batter. After you spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan, dollop jam by teaspoonfuls over the batter, and then swirl the jam into the batter with the knife.
Very good and moist. I love that it's not too sweet. I followed exactly except for the size of pan and had a bit of spillage. When I make it again, I'll cut back on glaze and use the correct 9" pan.
I used fresh apricots!!! So delicious and moist. Thanks to whoever suggested vanilla because it was a good add. Toasted the nuts before using them. I didn’t make the glaze but didn’t miss it. Not too sweet. Oh yeah also added some wheat germ. Making it again next weekend. Apricots on my neighbors trees🩷🩷🩷🩷