Apricot-Almond Coffeecake

Cake
8 oz (227g) cream cheese, softened
¾ C (5 ¼ oz/149g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 C (10 oz/283g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t (3 g) salt
¼ t ground nutmeg
½ C sour cream, room temperature
1 ½ C (18 oz/510g) apricot preserves

Topping
¾ C (3 ¾ oz/106g) all-purpose flour
¼ C (1 ¾ oz/50g) brown sugar
¼ C unsalted butter, chilled
¼ C (3/4 oz/21g) sliced almonds

Position rack in middle of oven and heat to 350° F. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.

Cake – In large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with mixer until blended. Add sugar, beating until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in sour cream. Spread half of batter in prepared pan. Gently spread preserves over batter. Drop remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over preserves.

Topping – In small bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle topping evenly over cake.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or has a few moist crumbs attached. Rotate pan one half turn midway through baking. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before cutting.

Serves: 10 to 12

11 Feb 2011 – This is the coffee cake I made for our Easter bunch and it got excellent reviews from all our guests but I wasn’t surprised.  I actually first made this recipe about 2 months ago and at the time my wife announced it was her favorite coffee cake ever.  That’s high praise from someone who knows coffee cakes.  I’ll admit too that even though my favorite coffee cake of all time is New York style crumb cake, this ranks right up there behind it.  The recipe is very straight forward and the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.  Another characteristic I like about this particular coffee cake is that it has great shelf life which isn’t always typical of baked products that have fruit fillings.  This one last a couple days if it isn’t eaten the first day which is more likely.  I also LOVE the crumble topping.  It really complements the cake.  Give this one a try.  I know you’ll love it as much as I do.  The original recipe appeared in the “Cooking with Paula Dean” magazine, January/February 2011.