In this olive oil cake from our friend Bronwen Wyatt, a layer of tender, flavorful pistachio cake is topped with a bright, rich layer of apricot butter and finished with the most addictive pistachio and olive oil streusel.

From Bronwen:

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’ll never stop singing the praises of dried fruit. Right
now in New Orleans, we’re in a market lull – the strawberries are petering out and the
blackberries haven’t yet begun. Stone fruit is still a distant glimmer on this unseasonable chilly
(for Louisiana at least) spring day. That’s why dried fruit, and especially dried California stone
fruits like apricots, prunes, and peaches, are so wonderful to work with. They’re dried in the
peak season and ready to go whenever I’m craving a fresh burst of flavor, and I don’t even have
to wait for apricot season to roll around.

One of my favorite hacks is to simmer dried stone fruit in syrup and blend it into a fruit butter (like I did with the prune raspberry butter for the almond cake recipe I developed last year). This time, dried apricot butter is the star of my new coffee cake recipe – my Apricot, Pistachio, and Olive Oil coffee cake.

Dried Fruit is Always in Season

It’s a given that I’ll source my dried apricots from California. California grows more than 95% of the apricots in the United States, and over 50% of the nation’s produce in general (!). And while I’m a stickler for sourcing my produce domestically and in season, dried apricots are always in season. Buying from California means my produce is being grown with attention and care, utilizing cutting-edge sustainable farming practices – practices that are a model for agriculture worldwide. Further, California has some of the highest pay for agriculture workers in the United States.

Here, a layer of tender, flavorful pistachio cake is topped with a bright, rich layer of apricot butter and finished with the most addictive pistachio and olive oil streusel. The olive oil plays so well with the flavor of the dried apricots – each has a lovely, fruity acidity, and the addition of both butter and olive oil to the cake itself means it stays moist for ages. I even love baking this cake the evening before and letting it mellow overnight. In the morning the pistachio streusel has melded in the jammy dried apricot butter in the most luscious way. So until I can get my hands on fresh California apricots, I’ll satisfy my craving with this Apricot, Pistachio, and Olive Oil coffee cake!

Here are a few more dried fruit recipes to try:

BE SURE TO SHARE YOUR APRICOT, PISTACHIO, + OLIVE OIL COFFEE CAKE CREATIONS WITH US BY SNAPPING A PIC AND TAGGING US ON SOCIAL USING #CAGROWN. 

Craving more CA Grown goodness? Follow us on Pinterest for fresh and fabulous recipe inspiration!

Apricot, Pistachio, and Olive Oil Cake

Bronwen Wyatt

In this coffee cake a layer of tender, flavorful pistachio cake is topped with a bright, rich layer of apricot butter and finished with the most addictive pistachio and olive oil streusel. The olive oil plays so well with the flavor of the dried apricots – each has a lovely, fruity acidity, and the addition of both butter and olive oil to the cake itself means it stays moist for ages. This cake uses the reverse creaming method – where the butter is first incorporated into the dry ingredients, followed by the wet ingredients.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 42 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 27 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8 servings

Calories 486 kcal

Equipment

• 9" Springform Pan

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the streusel

• ½ cup / 50 grams confectioners sugar
• ½ cup / 60 grams all purpose flour
• ½ cup / 50 grams ground pistachios or pistachio flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons / 40 grams olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the apricot butter

• 1 ¼ cups / 200 grams dried apricots roughly chopped
• 1 ¼ cups water
• ¼ cup / 50 grams granulated sugar
• Juice of half a lemon

For the cake

• 1 ½ cups / 180 grams all purpose flour
• ½ cup / 50 grams ground pistachios or pistachio flour
• ¾ cup / 150 grams sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick / 112 grams butter room temperature
• ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons / 92 grams sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9” round springform pan by spraying it with pan spray and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
• Begin by assembling the streusel, and then make the apricot butter. You’ll finish by preparing the cake batter, and then assemble the coffee cake from there.
• Make the streusel. Assemble all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Drizzle in the olive oil and vanilla extract. Stir the mixture with a fork until it forms a crumbly texture – if it still appears like there are dry patches of flour, add a little more olive oil a teaspoon at a time until it comes together. Spread the streusel in a single layer on a sheet tray and pop it in the freezer while you assemble the rest of your coffee cake elements.
• Make the apricot butter. Simmer the apricots, water, sugar, and lemon juice together in a small non reactive pot until the sugar has dissolved and the apricots have become very tender, about three minutes. Puree the mixture until very smooth – you may need to add a little water if the mixture is quite thick. Let cool to room temperature.
• Make the cake batter. Combine the flour, pistachios, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Add the room-temperature butter to the dry ingredients and mix with a paddle attachment until the mixture looks coarse and crumbly, like sand.
• Combine the sour cream, olive oil, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a separate bowl and whisk to combine. Add half the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix at medium-low speed until the wet ingredients are fully incorporated and the mixture takes on a lightened appearance, about two minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining sour cream mixture to the bowl and mix for an additional three minutes at medium speed.
• Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Gently spoon the apricot mixture onto the surface of the cake batter – or if you have a piping bag, it can be helpful to use one to pipe the apricot butter evenly over the surface of the cake batter. Use a spoon or an offset spatula to gently smooth the apricot butter layer over the surface of the coffee cake batter. Finish with the remaining pistachio and olive oil streusel.
• Bake for 40-42 minutes or until the cake has taken on a burnished golden brown color around the border. The thick layer of apricot butter can make it a little tricky to tell if the cake is done, as a knife poked in the center can still come out moist. I like to look at visual indicators here – the center of your coffee cake shouldn’t wobble when gently shaken, and the border of the cake will have separated from the sides of the pan. You’ll want to err on the side of slightly underdone rather than over.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing, or let the cake rest, loosely tented in foil, overnight to enjoy the next day.

Notes

My streusel recipe makes a soft, tender streusel that melts in your mouth. If you prefer a crunchy streusel, substitute the confectioner’s sugar for granulated sugar and omit the cornstarch.

Almond flour is a great substitution for the pistachios in this recipe as well!

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 486kcalCarbohydrates: 74gProtein: 8gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 450mgPotassium: 448mgFiber: 4gSugar: 45gVitamin A: 906IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 69mgIron: 3mg

Keyword apricot, coffee cake, extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, Pistachio

Tried this recipe?Mention @cagrownofficial or tag #CAGROWN!

Article, recipe and images by Bronwen Wyatt.