Apricot-glazed almond cake w/honey mascarpone cream

By LisaMK

From virginian-pilot, David Lebovitz and Lindsey Shere of Chez Panisse

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 16 tbs (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small dice, room temp, plus more for pan
• 1 c flour (divided), more for pan
• 1 1/3 c sugar
• 8 oz almond paste (no marzipan)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 6 eggs, room temp
• Glaze:
• 1 1/4 c apricot preserves
• 2 tbs rum or water
• Cream:
• 1/2 c chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1 c mascarpone
• 2 tbs honey, (orange blossom)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 325*.
Grease 9 or 10 inch cake or springform pan w/butter, line bottom w/round of parchment paper. Dust the pan w/flour, shaking out any excess.

Pulse sugar, almond paste and 1/4 c of the flour in food processor to form a finely ground, sandy paste.

Whisk together remaining 3/4 c of flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl.

Add butter, vanilla, almond extracts to the almond mixture in food processor. Puree to smooth, fluffy batter.

Add eggs one at a time,pulsing to incorporate after each addition. Scrape down sides as needed. Mixture will appear curdled; ok.

Add half of flour mixture and pulse few times, then add remaining flour mixture, pulsing just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Scrape batter into prepared cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is deep golden brown and center is set.

Cool cake in pan, then loosen sides and gently dislodge cake from pan. Discard bottom parchment paper; transfer cake to serving platter, top side up.

For glaze:
combine preserves and rum in small saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to boil, cook for 2-3 mins., stirring often, until mixture coats the back of spoon. Strain and keep warm until ready to use.

Brush warm glaze on cooled cake, using all glaze.

For cream:
place heavy cream in stainless-steel mixing bowl. Use a whisk to beat until quite frothy. Add the mascarpone and honey; whisk until mixture is creamy and thick enough to hold enough soft peaks.

Serve at table with cut slices of the cake.