Apricot Bundt Cake with Pistachios

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before…the hubby had a meeting and he asked me to bake him a cake. This time it was for a potluck and I had to make it the day before as he would be leaving relatively early. This made me think that a bundt cake would be the best choice. That’s part of the reason I love them so much – they only get better as they sit. But what kind of bundt cake? I looked around the kitchen and found that I had some dried apricots and knew that I had found my main add in. Then I looked to see what kind of nuts I had on hand and I found pistachios – perfect. So that is how the apricot bundt cake with pistachios was born. I adapted a basic sour cream pound cake recipe America’s Test Kitchen and this new cake is the result.

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Apricot Bundt Cake with Pistachios

Serves 10 – 12

• 7 large eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 TBS milk
• 21 TBS unsalted butter, softened but still cool cut into 21 pieces
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 6 oz dried apricots, cut into small pieces. About 1 cup
• 3/4 cups whole pistachios, roughly chopped

For the Glaze

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 TBS orange juice

• Preheat oven to 300 and set a rack to the middle of your oven.
• Butter and flour the bundt pan
• Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking power and salt.
• Add the milk and sour cream to a measuring cut and mix them together
• Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl if needed.
• Lower the speed to medium and gradually add the granulated sugar. Turn to medium high and beat until pale and fluffy. About 3 mintues. Turn off the mixer and scrape down.
• Return to medium and slowly add the egg mixture. It might look curdled but don’t worry.
• Reduce the speed to low and add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Followed by half of the sour cream mixture, 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the sour cream and the balance of the flour. Just mix until combined and do not overmix.
• Remove the bowl and fold in the chopped apricots and pistachios until well distributed throughout the batter.
• Place the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Tap it a couple of times on the counter to release any air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour and a half. The cake is done when a tester comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack for 15 – 20 minutes then remove from the pan to cool completely.

Make the Glaze

• Mix the confectioner’s sugar and orange juice until smooth
• Drizzle over cake

How Was the Apricot Bundt Cake with Pistachios?

Obviously this is not a diet cake. It is a rich, moist cake that does indeed get better as it sits. The chewy bites of apricot are a delight and then you find a bit of pistachio. It’s a wonderfully adult cake. It’s not too sweet but just sweet enough.

As you can see there is a wonderful distribution of fruit and nuts in the cake. The glaze adds an extra bit of sweet but just on the crust. It’s a lovely little treat for the taste buds. This will become a favorite for me along with the Citrus Bundt Cake and the Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake.