Apricot Coffee Cake

It's stone fruit season. The best stone fruit of them all is the apricot. Peaches and nectarines seem to get all the glory but apricots when ripe and delicious are golden orbs that taste like summer. The people who know how to bake with apricots are the Austrians. They have the best recipes to make the most of this wonderful fruit. They have apricot coffee cake, apricot strudels, apricot cheese cakes and even the most delicious dumplings that feature an apricot inside. When I was in High School, I was lucky enough to spend a year in Salzburg, Austria as a foreign exchange student. 

This coffee cake is very easy to make and make the best of this lovely fruit. It is perfect for breakfast with a cup of coffee. 

Apricot Coffee Cake

8 ripe apricots

1/2 cup butter

 1 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Project Organic Vanilla Bean Paste

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 8X8 baking pan with nonstick spray. 
2. Wash, halve and remove the pits from the apricots. 
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the egg yolks and vanilla bean paste.
4. In another bowl, add the eggs whites and salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Add the flour to the egg yolk mixture.
6. Gently fold in the egg white mixture to the batter and mix until just combined.
7. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
8. Top with apricot halves. Do not press the fruit into the batter. 
9. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown.

Enjoy!