I made this apricot coffee cake yesterday and just had to share 
It is very yummy and certainly pretty enough for company. I used fresh apricots that I peeled, seeded and chopped. You could also use copped dried apricots that have been soaked in a little water.
- 3/4 c. softened margarine
- 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 1/4 c. flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. each of baking soda, salt & cinnamon
- 1 c. sour cream
- 1 c. chopped apricots
Topping
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Get out a small but sturdy bowl and add the margarine and brown sugar. I usually set the margarine out first so it has a chance to soften up on the counter before I start baking. Then I go about gathering the rest of my stuff and preheating the oven. For this cake you want to go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 F.
While you’re at it, go ahead and spray a bunt cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set it aside and let’s get back to making the cake.
Get out a hand mixer and cream your margarine and brown sugar until you end up with a light yellow and fluffy mixture. Add your eggs and vanilla and beat again until everything is well incorporated and fluffy. Stir in the sour cream and set the mixture aside.
In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Give everything a good stir with your favorite wodden spoon.
Pour the egg, butter and sugar mixture into your large flour bowl. Grab the hand mixer and set it on the lowest setting. Once most of the flour is incorporated into the wet mixture, change it to medium and beat the batter until it is nice and smooth.
Get your wooden spoon back out and gently fold in 1 cup of chopped apricots. I like to use fresh ones for this cake, but you could substitute dry apricots soaked in a bit of water to soften them up.
Pour the batter into your bunt pan and top with 1/3 chopped peacans, 2 tbsp bown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.
Bake in a 350 F oven for 50 minutes.
I was planning on taking a picture of the finished cake for you, but we ended up devouring it before I remembered 
would peaches work instead of apricots? i have a ton of fresh peaches from our harvest
Sure, peaches should work just as well.
Can you substitute another fruit for apricots
Of course. You could substitute just about any fruit that holds up well during baking. I’m sure it would be yummy with peaches, plumbs, apples etc. I would stay away from berries for this since they turn to mush when they bake.
Do you think you could use frozen apricots? I have some I need to use up in the freezer.
I think that would work fine. I would thaw the apricots overnight in the fridge and then discard any liquid.
When the cake is unmolded, the topping is on the bottom. Is that the plan?
Hi Pete, good point on the toppings. Yes, that is the plan. If you prefer, you could use a 9 inch tube pan so you have the topping on the top instead of the bottom. You could also cook the cake in a 9×13 pan and have the topping on the top.
So… do you put the toppings into the pan first or do they just end up there after baking? I’m ignorant of how bunt pans work….
I think I’ll stick with the bundt pan and stand on my head to eat the cake…would that work?
Or maybe put the topping in the pan before the batter.
Either way it’ll be delicious! Thanks for a good recipe.
THe thing about peaches is, they are wetter than apricots so the cake may ne a little wetter, may need to cook longer.
I have some Pureed Apricots and really don’t know what to make out of them….could I cut down on the margarine and use the apricot puree instead?
Hi, I was reading your article and I just wanted to say thank you for putting out such excellent content. There is so much crap on the internet these days its difficult to find anything worthwhile. I actually have cooked this recipe before, I got this book last month on recommendation from a friend http://ninjahq.com/go/cookingrecipes and it turned out very nice! I’m extremely eager to try your variation of it though, it looks excellent. I think you might enjoy those recipes, they’re very good. Thanks for the article and great ideas.