Apricot Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is an adaptation of a classic. Introduced to me by my dear friend Carol Lawless, it is a recipe featured in Ina Garten's wonderful Parties! cookbook. It's a gorgeous, showy cake. When Carol, who is an excellent cook, brought it to a party, we all were drooling in awe! Yet, it's not that hard to make. My kind of coffeecake!

Because Ina has tinkered with the eggs vs. flour ratio, it is light and moist compared to most sour cream coffee cake recipes. It still has the familiar ribbon of cinnamon streusel, but the texture is more delicate. I really think it has a lot to do with the fact that she uses cake flour instead of regular flour. I also added some tangy dried apricots and used toasted almonds instead of walnuts. A nice change, I think!

Ingredients:

12 T unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 t real vanilla extract
1 t brandy (optional)
1 1/4 C sour cream
2 1/2 C cake flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t kosher salt

Streusel:

3/4 C light brown sugar, packed
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt
3 T cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 C finely minced dried apricots--optional (always use pretty moist dried apricots)
2/3 C toasted walnuts--chopped very fine

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (shortening is best for this) and flour a 10-inch tube pan. This is just enough for a medium sized coffee cake. You can use a 12-cup Bundt pan but do double the recipe! 

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla... brandy and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Use shortening or oil to grease the tube pan, and you might even want to cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom. Ladle about half of the cake batter into the pan. Then, make the streusel:

Place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Or mix in a food processor.  Mix in chopped almonds and apricots (if you decide to use them). Reserving 2T, spread an even layer of streusel on top of the batter in the tube pan. Put the rest of the batter on top, spreading it smoothly. Bake until a tester or a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel-side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the powdered sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water, if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.