Apricot Hazelnut Pound Cake

A favourite old fashioned pound cake recipe gets a delicious update with the addition of crunchy toasted hazelnuts and sweet dried apricots.

Apricot Hazelnut Cake.

Originally published Oct 2019.

Okay, sometimes I get too ambitious during the Christmas Baking season. It’s always been like that for me, but even more so since the inception of this website almost 13 years ago.

Frankly, I have far too many ideas for new baking recipes than I will ever accomplish in my lifetime. And they keep coming all the time.

Apricot Hazelnut Cake.

If I have a particularly good idea, I  will make a note of it in one of several spiral bound notebooks that I keep around my office space and kitchen. They also hold notes on recipes as I am cooking or baking them, so as not to forget important details when it comes time to write the recipe.

Occasionally I go back to revisit some of those scribbled ideas, and this past Christmas season, I discovered one idea from a few years back. I decided it has to be included in new recipes I would add for the 2019 Christmas season.

Apricot Hazelnut Cake. Fold in the apricots and nuts last.

The recipe took inspiration from 3 incredibly popular recipes , that have been big hits over many Holiday baking seasons around here. Our classic Newfoundland Cherry Cake, Apricot Raisin cake and Cherry Pecan Cake get hundreds of thousands of hits during the Holiday baking season.

You can find all of those recipes plus quite a few others in our Best Christmas Cakes Collection.

Our busiest season yet.

The Holiday baking season was so busy this year that I didn’t have time to post all of the recipes I had planned to. In fact December was our busiest month ever in 12 years online.  Recipe pages on RockRecipes.com were viewed over 2 1/2 MILLION times in that one month!

Apricot Hazelnut Cake.

I thought maybe I would save them for next years Holiday baking season. This recipe was one of them.

However, I took a frozen chunk of this cake out of the freezer last week and remembered just how good it was. That’s probably the reason it went into the freezer in the first place! I could not be trusted not to eat it all!

Apricot Hazelnut Pound Cake, for the love of apricot.

Long time readers will know that I have a particular fondness for anything apricot. There are quite a number of recipes here using them, from cakes and cookies to a savory chutney.

Chop the apricots into small chunks.

Add to that my love of all different kinds of nuts including roasted hazelnuts, and no doubt in my mind, this one was a winner. Toasting the hazelnuts made all the difference. They paired perfectly with the sweet little chinks of apricot in this buttery pound cake.

When my mom and other members of the family tried it, they wholeheartedly agreed.

Roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts.

So, rather than wait another 10 months to bring it to you avid bakers, I decided to post it now. I think it would be a great addition for Easter next month.

Let us know in the comments if you try it.

Love homemade cakes from scratch? We’ve put together a collection of the 25 Most Baked Cakes of the last 12 years on Rock Recipes. You are sure to find several to love.

If you are looking for more Christmas baking inspiration, we have gathered a collection of our Most Popular Christmas Recipes of the past 12 years.

Like this Apricot Hazelnut Pound Cake recipe?

You’ll find hundreds of other sweet ideas in our Cakes & Pies Category and even more in our Desserts Category.

It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram. 

Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too. 

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Apricot Hazelnut Pound Cake

Yield: 32 SERVINGS (1 LARGE CAKE OR 2 SMALLER 8X4 INCH LOAVES)

Apricot Hazelnut Pound Cake. A favourite old fashioned pound cake recipe gets a delicious update with the addition of crunchy toasted hazelnuts and sweet dried apricots.

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup lukewarm, undiluted evaporated milk
• 1 cup hazelnuts, (toasted then roughly chopped)
• 2 cups chopped dried apricots + 1/4 cup flour

Instructions

1. Chop the apricots into small pieces to get 2 cups. They will get tossed in 1/4 cup of flour later but not until just before they are folded into the batter.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar well.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the vanilla extract.
5. Sift together the 3 cups of flour and baking powder.
6. Fold dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the lukewarm milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. As a general rule, I add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the milk in 2 portions.
7. Fold in the chopped apricots that have been tossed at the last minute in the 1/4 cup flour, along with the chopped hazelnuts.
8. Bake in greased and floured spring form pan, tube pan or 2 loaf pans, lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes - 1 hour depending upon the size of your pan.
9. Baking times vary greatly on this recipe so rely on the toothpick test to ensure that it is properly baked. When a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, its done. Be careful not to go past this stage or the cake will be dry.
10. Let the cake cool in the pan/s for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Nutrition Information

Yield

32

Serving Size

1 small slice
Amount Per Serving Calories 234Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 43mgSodium 108mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 1gSugar 18gProtein 3g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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