This Apricot Brandy Pound Cake recipe is my grandmothers! It is moist, tender and perfectly dense with a delicate apricot flavor.
This week has been altogether consumed by Wedding Planning. This has taken on a life of its own and deserves the designation of capitalization. This is not the first week, nor will it be the last, that has been usurped. My Mom’s and my productivity gets sucked into this Wedding Planning void.
Yesterday we decided to take control and set aside the Wedding Planning for a brief moment while we baked a pound cake! This Apricot Brandy Pound Cake recipe is for one of Nana’s many fabulous cakes! It is moist and dense with a delicate apricot flavor. Indeed I’m not entirely sure why we chose to make one of the most calorically dense cakes known to man pre-wedding – maybe a nice Angel Food cake would have been a better choice. However I can tell you that it is worth every calorie!
A brief Pound Cake aside:
I’m not sure if it was in anticipation of eating the pound cake or because it was 70° in St Louis yesterday, but my Mom and I popped the cake in the oven and then promptly left for a walk. My Grandmother’s recipe says to bake the pound cake for 90 minutes, so we thought we had all the time in the world. Even so, if I had been babysitting the cake, I would have taken it out around 50 minutes. Don’t make our mistake: save the walk for the cooling process!
Apricot Brandy Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs (room temperature)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon rum extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup apricot brandy (you can also use unflavored brandy )
Apricot Brandy Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon apricot brandy
- 3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream (more or less to reach desired consistency)
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Grease tube pan, 12 cup Bundt pan or 2, 1 pound loaf pans with butter and then coat with flour.
- Sift together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add flour to butter mixture in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition.
- Stir together extracts, sour cream and brandy. Add to cake batter and mix well.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 45-90 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with very few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes in pan before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Prepare Icing:
- Stir together all ingredients. Add milk slowly until you reach the desired consistency. The icing will firm up, so I recommend icing as quickly as possible to avoid awkward dribbles.
Assembly:
- After the cake is completely cooled drizzle or pour the icing over the cake.
- The icing is optional, and the cake is just as lovely with a bit of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream!
A friend brought me some apricot brandy from Austria and I’ll be making this cake tomorrow ❤️
That is going to be soooooo good!!! These days I like to give it a bit of a soaking after or you can add the brandy to the icing also!
Can i use the plain brandy insted of Apricot brandy? Will the brandy flavour be good enough to tsate on the cake? I dont drink alcohol but wanted to make this for my husband.
You can substitute any type of alcohol you would like or you could make a simple syrup flavored with lemon or orange instead, since you don't particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol. Bring equal parts of sugar and water to a boil with a bit of lemon zest, allow to steep like tea, then strain and cool. Happy baking!
I haven't made it in awhile, however I will make it for Christmas
I hope you did, Martha!
This is a holiday classic that I make each year. It was my uncle's favorite as well. I made my first with him and cherish that memory. It's DELICIOUS!
I am going to try this recipe on the weekend Sounds delicious Thanks
I have not tried it yet but can't wait for the weekend sounds delicious Thanks