High Altitude Apricot Almond Torte
A high altitude recipe for a moist, one layer almond cake, with fresh apricots baked on top of the cake.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9 Inch Round Cake Pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp almond extract
- ⅔ cup whole milk, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup almond flour (or very finely chopped almonds)
- 3-4 fresh apricots, pitted and sliced
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.Set a 9-inch round cake pan on a piece of parchment paper, and trace a circle around the pan. Now draw a wide tab on either side. Cut around the template, keeping the tabs attached to the circle. Fit the paper in your pan, and spray the paper and sides of the pan with non-stick baking spray. The tabs will help you to lift the cake out of the pan, so that you don't need to turn it upside down to remove the cake.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown milk solids form at the bottom of the pan. This process might take about 10 minutes. First the butter will hiss and splatter as the water evaporates, then as it quiets down, a layer of foam will form on top of the butter. This means the butter is done. Immediately remove from the heat, and scrape the butter, including the brown milk solids, into a large bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter with the granulated sugar (1 1/4 cups), eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk and sour cream, until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and cardamom. Add the almond flour, then whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, whisking just until moistened.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and arrange the sliced apricots on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
- Bake for about 55 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean, or with moist crumbs clinging to it, but no undercooked batter. Let the cake cool in the pan for about an hour, then remove the cake by lifting it out using the parchment paper tabs.
- Serve the cake warm, or at room temperature. Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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