Austrian Apricot Cake *Marillenkucken

Boy, do I have a delicious recipe for you! While visiting my in-laws in Austria, they have a huge apricot tree in their garden that is producing an abundance of these golden, juicy treats. Apricots have the perfect blend of sweet and sour and are just the right size for a healthy snack on a hot Summer's day. But do you know what is even better than fresh fruit?? Cake! 

I'm not a super fan of cake with fruit in it (I'll admit it) and I was hesitant to try this cake out of the fact that chunks of fruit in cake just doesn't do it for me. I was so glad that I tried it (to set an example for my kids to try it ha) because it seriously is one of the best cakes I've ever had. It's not too sweet and the apricots add just the right amount of texture and sour to the cake. The kids and I ended up eating so much that Oma had to make another cake. I knew I had to share the recipe because if I was eating fruit cake, I knew this recipe must be a good one. 

Marillenkucken *Apricot Cake

Ingredients: *side note, this recipe works best with an electric mixer or an electric hand mixer

• 5 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 3/4 cup or 1.5 sticks of butter
• 90g powdered sugar
• 70g granulated sugar
• 180g white flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 kg or 2.2 lbs. *about 10 apricots, sliced 

Method:

• Slice the apricots into thin slices and set aside
• In a small mixing bowl, mix together egg whites and granulated sugar until white & fluffy, set aside
• In a large electric mixer or mixing bowl, combine butter and powdered sugar until completely mixed. Add vanilla, a pinch of salt and egg yolks. Combine all these ingredients thoroughly
• Add in the egg and sugar mixture and combine
• Mix in flour and baking powder, mixing lightly or on a low speed until a thick batter forms 
• Line a circled cake pan with parchment paper or grease the pan and spread batter into pan
• Decorate the batter with the cut apricots in a circled fashion (or however you'd like) until all the batter is covered
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, checking often 
• Remove from oven and let sit for a minimum 30 minutes, then Enjoy!!