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Course: Dessert | Beer Style: Berliner-style Weisse

Make Ahead Apricot Coffeecake

Prepare this rich, slightly spiced and lavishly fruity coffeecake the night before, then pop it in the oven for a special breakfast or leisurely brunch the next morning. Mounds of sweet streusel topping and thick, fragrant apricot glaze take the flavor to the next level.

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Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

Apricot Glaze

  • 12 ounces of dried apricots
  • 1 cup Berliner Weisse
  • 1 cup sugar (divided in half)

    • Cake Batter

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon allspice
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ¾ cups sour cream
  • 3 large eggs
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Prepared apricots listed under glaze recipe

  • Streusel Topping

  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

    • Directions

    1. Prepare apricot glaze by pouring 1 cup beer into a stockpot on medium high.
      Add ½ cup granulated sugar.
      Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low.
      Carefully add 12 ounces of apricots.
      Simmer mixture for 15 minutes.
      Take the saucepan off the burner to cool.
      Remove cooled apricots from glaze mixture and place on a cutting board.
      Stir the second ½ cup sugar into glaze mixture in the stockpot.
      Simmer on medium low for 1 minute to thicken.
      Remove from heat and cool while preparing coffeecake batter.
    2. Begin cake recipe by melting 7 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Set aside to cool.
      In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together.
      Combine brown and granulated sugar in a second bowl.
      Add sour cream and eggs to the sugar and mix.
      Whisk melted butter into the sour cream mixture until smooth.
    3. Slowly mix the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients until combined.
      Chop cooled apricots into ½ inch pieces.
      Add apricots to combined ingredients.
      Pour cake batter into two greased 9-inch cake pans.
    4. Prepare the streusel topping by chopping the chilled butter into ½ inch pieces.
      Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix in the butter with a fork or clean hands.
      (The mixture will resemble course crumbs.)
      Add streusel topping to cake batter.
      Cover pans tightly with plastic and refrigerate overnight or no more than 24 hours.
      Pour glaze into a container, cover and refrigerate.
    5. The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
      Unwrap the pans, place on middle rack and bake for 30-40 minutes..
      (The liquid absorbed by the apricots during the glaze preparation varies by brand, so check every 3-5 minutes to make sure the center is firm, starting at 30 minutes.)
      The cakes are done when the tops are golden brown and a fork poked into the center only pulls out a few crumbs.
      Cool on racks.
      When completely cool, drizzle glaze over the top. The glaze will be thick, like honey.
    6. Also, kudos to America’s Test Kitchen for the idea to put the batter into two smaller pans; it helped solve the "mushy middle" dilemma you can have with coffeecakes.

    Alicia Underlee Nelson is a freelance writer and photographer who covers craft beer, travel, art, entertainment, history and breaking news for Thomson Reuters, Food Network, USA Today, Delta Sky Magazine, AAA Living Magazine, Midwest Living, Beer Advocate, trivago, Matador Network and numerous other publications. Her first book, titled “North Dakota Beer: A Heady History,” was published in 2017. Follow her adventures across the American Midwest, prairie provinces of Canada and beyond at prairiestylefile.com. You can also find her (and photos of what she’s drinking) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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