Categories: Cakes, Desserts

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups blanched almonds, lightly toasted
• 3 cups plus 3 Tbs granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 oz good quality soft marzipan, at room temperature
• 6 lg eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup Amaretto or other almond liqueur
• 1/4 cup apricot or orange brandy
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
• 3/4 Tbs salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 2/3 cup chopped dried apricots, preferably unsulphered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan and tap out the excess flour, holding the center tube if it is a removable bottomed pan. Process the almonds and 3 Tbs of the sugar in a food processor until finely ground, then set aside.

2. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the remaining 3 cups of sugar together for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is very fluffy and pale. Add the marzipan and cream until well-blended. There may be a few little pieces of marzipan that don’t break up in the batter – this will add a little texture and pockets of flavor to the finished cake. (If the marzipan is not soft enough to cream, grind it in a food processor with the almonds and add it to the batter when the nuts are added. ) Scrape down the sides of the bowl and do so frequently from now on – this is a large batter and you want to ensure that everything is properly distributed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the almond and vanilla extracts, Amaretto and Apricot brandy.

3. 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 so the batter never gets too dry, causing the flour to become overworked. Fold in the chopped apricots and ground nuts and scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a rubber spatula.

4. Bake the cake in the center of the oven for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hrs, or until a wooden skewer inserted 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 rack for 15 minutes. Run a thin bladed knife around the outside of the cake and center tube. If the pan has a removable bottom, lift the tube out, freeing the cake. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and pull out the tube and bottom. If the pan does not have a removable bottom, simply invert the cake onto the rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before serving or storing. 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. This wonderful cake really doesn’t need any embellishment.

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