Apricot, Walnut, and Lavender Cake

The apricots in New York are amazingly beautiful (and plentiful!) this year,  actually all of the fruit this year has been amazing which is a surprise after the long winter we had...So naturally, I bought a ton of them, then needed to use them up quickly as they ripened all at once. I have been meaning to make this cake from Plenty More since the book came out in the US last year, and when I saw on instagram that my pal Laura made it (combined with my over-ripening apricots) I was spurred into action.

Making this cake requires the use of both a food processor (to grind the nuts) and an electric mixer (to mix the batter), which normally would turn me off because I am a one appliance at a time kind of cook. BUT! This cake is totally worth the dishes. It is dense and nutty, punctuated by sweet and tart apricots and gently floral lavender buds. It's also the kind of cake that is delicious the next day, so feel free to make it the day before you serve it. 

It has been an Ottolenghi inspired month over here. Check out the Nutella and Halvah Babka I made for Food52 using Ottolenghi's Krantz cake dough HERE.

Apricot, Walnut, and Lavender Cake

from Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi

makes one 9-inch cake

This is one of those recipes that was so obviously written with gram measurements that the cup measurements are a bit awkward (like 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) so I have just included the grams below. The recipe has been posted in a couple of other places online so if you'd prefer the cups just search around a little. Also, the recipe calls for superfine sugar, but I made this cake with granulated sugar and it worked great, I might even cut the sugar 50g or so next time I make it. I also added a bit more salt to the recipe as the original only called for 1/8 teaspoon which felt a little skimpy for my taste.

185g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
2 tablespoons walnut oil
220g superfine sugar
120g ground almonds
4 large eggs, beaten
120g ground walnuts
90g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
1½ teaspoon lavender flowers, fresh or dry
1/2 teaspoon salt
600g (about 15) apricots, halved and pitted

For the icing
50g icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat the oven to 375ºF. Line the base and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the paper.

Put the butter, oil, sugar and almonds in the bowl of a mixer and beat on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs bit by bit, making sure each addition is well incorporated before beginning the next, then fold in the walnuts, flour, vanilla, lemon zest, a teaspoon of lavender flowers and salt.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Arrange the apricot halves skin side down and slightly overlapping all over the top of the cake, taking them right to the edge.

Bake for 70-80 minutes – cover with foil if the top starts to brown too much; also, note that when you insert a skewer to test for doneness, it will come out a little sticky because of all the moisture in the apricots.

While the cake is baking, whisk together the icing sugar and lemon juice until you have a light, pourable icing (adjust the amount of sugar or juice slightly, to suit your tastes). Let the cake cool for 15 minutes then drizzle the icing over the top. Sprinkle over the remaining lavender flowers and set aside to cool completely before slicing.

Cranberry Meringue Tartlets

These tartlets were inspired by a lengthy discussion between me and my dinner companions last weekend on whether lemon meringue pie is appropriate Thanksgiving fare. We never came to consensus on the topic, but my general attitude on Thanksgiving is, the more pies the better! So, I think I'll probably sneak one in next year's dessert line up for the lemon meringue lovers in our group, but I also might make a case for these cranberry meringue tartlets instead. They hit all of the right sweet, tart, and creamy notes that a great lemon meringue pie does with the bonus that they are a bit more seasonally appropriate.

The cranberry cream I filled the tartlets with is a riff on Tartine's Lemon Cream, which is a fairly simple (but genius) recipe for lemon curd enriched with a goodly amount of butter. For my cranberry version, I swapped the lemon juice for unsweetened cranberry juice and reduced the sugar and butter to cut the richness just slightly because I knew I wanted to top these tarts with a Swiss meringue cap which can be quite sweet. The cream was a delicious success. In fact, I had to hide the leftovers from myself because I couldn't stop going at it with a spoon.

p.s. I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend! I'll be back soon with a few photos of my Thanksgiving celebration, but in the meantime I'd love to know what you all made this year. Share in the comments below!

Cranberry Meringue Tartlets

Sweet Tart Dough

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

for 1, 9'' tart or 6, 4'' tartlets

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons cold, cubed butter

1 egg yolk (save the white for the meringue)

1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (optional)

1. In the bowl of a food processor or with a pastry blender, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the yolk and zest and pulse until the mixture begins to clump a bit.

2. Lightly butter your tart pan or pans and gently press the crumbly dough into the pan. Make sure to evenly coat the bottom and the sides while being careful to not compact the dough too much. Alternately, you can pat the dough into a circle, wrap it in plastic, and chill it for 2 hours. After 2 hours, roll the dough in between two lightly floured pieces of parchment paper into a 12'' circle and gently lay it into the pan, making sure to press the dough gently into the sides and bottom of the pan.  You may have a bit of extra dough, save it just in case you have to repair any cracks later on. Freeze the tart shell(s) for 30min.

3. Preheat your oven to 375º and bake the tart shell(s) on a baking sheet (no need for pie weights) until it is lightly golden 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil repair any cracks that may have formed with your leftover dough, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool the shell on a rack while you prepare the rest of the tart.

Cranberry Cream

adapted from Tartine's Lemon Cream

3/4 cup 100% unsweetened cranberry juice 

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk (save the white for the meringue)

3/4 cup sugar

5 ounces unsalted butter

1. Add a few inches of water into a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer.

2. In a large bowl that will sit securely on the rim of the saucepan without touching the water underneath, combine the cranberry juice, eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine.

3. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly until it is very thick and reaches 180º on a thermometer. If you do not have a candy thermometer, cook the mixture until it is very thick and a whisk leaves a trail through the curd. Remove from the heat and let cool until it reaches about 140º.

4. Cut the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and when the mixture has cooled slightly pour it into a blender. With the blender running, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition. The cream will thicken slightly and turn light pink. You can also do this with an immersion blender. Chill the cream in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the tarts.

DIY 100% cranberry juice

yield about 1 cup

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries with 3/4 cup water. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries are soft and their skins have burst. Press the mixture firmly through a sieve and discard the skins and seeds.

If you aren't up for making your own cranberry juice you can find it at Trader Joe's and most natural food stores.

Swiss Meringue

If you don't like regular meringue, you might like it made this way. It is smooth and marshmallowy in texture. These tarts would be excellent without the meringue cap, but I think the addition of pillowy soft Swiss meringue is the perfect compliment to the tart cranberry cream.

2 egg whites (ideally, the 2 egg whites you saved earlier)

1/2 cup sugar

pinch salt

1. Add a few inches of water into a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer.

2. In a large bowl that will sit securely on the rim of the saucepan without touching the water underneath, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very warm to the touch.

3. Remove from the heat and whisk the mixture with an electric mixer on high until stiff and glossy.

To Assemble

Fill each pre-baked tart shell with a few tablespoons of cranberry cream, top with a few tablespoons of meringue then use a spatula to create a swirly, peaked pattern. Gently brown the meringue under your broiler, or with one of those fun kitchen torches. Be Careful! It only needs to be under the broiler for about 45 seconds so keep an eye on it the whole time. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator for a few hours. These tarts are best on the day they are made.