This buttery fruit cake is perfect for summer when fresh peaches or apricots are in season, but it also works beautifully with canned fruit. This traditional German-style cake features a yeast-based dough topped with apricot or peach halves, cold butter, sliced almonds and a cinnamon-sugar sprinkle. Use fresh fruit when available (peel fresh fruit first) or canned fruit for convenience. Happy baking!
Ingredients Apricot Butter Cake
60 g unsalted butter (1 stick butter is 114 g)
1 cube fresh yeast or 1 package dry yeast
500 g all-purpose flour
1 egg
250 ml milk
50 g sugar
zest of 1 organic lemon
1 tbsp extra flour for dusting
CAKE TOPPING
130 g cold butter
a pinch of salt
140 g sugar
1 can apricots (about 850 ml) or canned peaches, or 600–700 g fresh apricots/peaches
100 g sliced almonds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Baking Instructions
MAKE THE YEAST DOUGH
– Melt the butter and let it cool slightly (do not overheat).
– Warm the milk gently and dissolve the yeast in it.
– In a large bowl combine the flour, egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, lemon zest, the cooled melted butter and the yeast-milk.
– Mix with a hand mixer fitted with dough hooks for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
– Knead the dough briefly by hand, place it in a lightly floured bowl and dust the top with 1 tablespoon flour.
– Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.
– Knead the dough again on a floured surface, dusting your hands with flour if needed.
– Grease a deep baking tray (approx. 42 × 29 cm or 12 × 17 inches). The tray should be at least 4 cm / 1.5–2 inches deep; if unavailable, use two smaller pans.
– Spread the dough evenly across the prepared tray and let it rise another 10–15 minutes.
TOPPING
– Mix the cinnamon with the sugar.
– Drain canned apricots; if they are whole, halve them. For fresh fruit, score the skins and dip the fruit briefly in boiling water, then into ice water to loosen the skins—peel, halve and remove the pits. Ripe fruit peels more easily.
– Gently press the apricot or peach halves into the risen dough, spaced evenly.
– Allow the assembled cake to rise for an additional 15 minutes.
– Cut the cold butter into small cubes.
– Using a wooden spoon, press small indentations into the dough between the fruit halves.
– Place one butter cube in each indentation.
– Sprinkle the cake with sliced almonds and the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
– Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 20 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown.
– Let the cake cool before cutting it into rectangular pieces.
TIP
Place an oven-safe cup or small bowl of water on a lower rack while baking. The added steam helps keep the cake moist and improves texture.
Serve slices with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a classic finish—Lecker!
NOTE
German baking trays (“Backblech”) are often deeper than typical American cookie sheets and are designed for cakes. For this recipe, use a tray at least 4 cm (about 2 inches) deep. If you don’t have a single deep tray, two smaller pans (for example, aluminum foil pans) will work.