Little Apricot Cakes - vegan

A friend of mine has an apricot tree in her backyard (I know, California living is hard) and this year it is just bursting with fruit. Every time I see her, she wants to give me what seems like hundreds of pounds of the sweet fruit. I've resisted thus far (though I admit to having jam thoughts) and I've only brought home a small number. In addition to his unbelievable dislike of peaches, Mr Official Taster also steers away from apricots. sigh

These little cakes are a great solution. Since it's not a whole cake, I can eat them for breakfast or snacks or take one with me for lunch without feeling like That Girl. You know, the one who eats a whole cake by herself. If I want to feel better, I can call them muffins.

Anyway, you should make these. They're light and sweet, and I really like the bursts of lemon. The cake itself is not too sweet, to the apricots really shine. Also a plus? They come together really fast and are pretty to look at; they're totally company-worthy. Planning a picnic or BBQ for July 4? These little guys are easy to pack and easy to eat without worrying about finding a plate or a fork.

Little Apricot Cakes - vegan
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Next time, I'd love to replace some of the flour with almond flour. I think it would be just delightful. If you're a coconut fan, I think using coconut oil for the vegetable oil would be excellent. I chose to use lemon juice rather than vinegar in this recipe because I wanted to play up the lemon flavor that's already included in the zest. I'm glad I did! These are sweet with notes of lemon that contrast nicely with the sweet apricots. The original recipe calls for 2 apricots, but when I topped my cakes, I found I wish I had prepared a third. 

Finally, longtime readers know that I always use white whole wheat flour rather than all-purpose (I've found them to be interchangeable). If you use all-purpose here, the color will be lighter and whiter. 

The original recipe yield is 12 little cakes, but I got 10 out of my batter.

1 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp (or 6 Tbsp) vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 C non dairy milk (I used almond)
1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
2-3 apricots, halved, pitted, & cut into 1/4-inch wedges
coarse sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat oil, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla in a medium bowl for about 2 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with the milk in 2 additions. Begin and end with dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed (probably once or twice). Stir in lemon juice and divide batter among muffin cups. Each cup will only be 1/3 full. Don't freak out. This is OK.

Smooth tops and top each little cake with 1-3 apricot slices. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean and cakes are golden. Allow cakes to cool in the pan, on a wire rack, for about 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and allow to finish cooling on rack.