OLD FASHIONED APRICOT NECTAR CAKE
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Old Fashioned Apricot Nectar Cake, like other vintage recipes, this bundt cake recipe has simple ingredients that come together easily for the best dessert imaginable. It’s a tender, moist, delicately flavored apricot cake perfect any time of year.
Bear with me…
I very rarely write about my family or myself opting instead to focus on the recipe and ingredients. The Apricot Nectar Cake holds such fond memories for me that I simply must document them. (Skip to the recipe, if you prefer.)
I helped my great-grandmother make Apricot Nectar Cakes numerous times when I was little. I stayed with her on and off when I was little while my mother was getting her master’s degree. We called her Mawmaw and she was the most gentle, sweetest lady you’ll ever meet. She had been born in 1901, lived through the Depression, the 1st World War, the 2nd World War, and a lot of hard times. We (my brother and I) ‘helped’ her in the garden. We played I Spy and Hide the Thimble; games that required only your imagination. She made glue using flour and water. And, she made us ‘baseballs’ to play with out of scrap fabric. I thought these were the coolest things ever!
As well, I ‘helped’ her make Apricot Nectar Cakes, Sock-It-Too-Me Cakes, and Southern Tea Cakes. Actually, I probably got in the way more than I helped but she had lots of patience and made me feel like I was really doing something grand.
Therefore, this Apricot Nectar Cake is more than a recipe to me. Making it, smelling it bake, eating it takes me back to my Mawmaw’s kitchen and sweet, wonderful memories.
We all have memories related to food. I hope you take the time to enjoy time in the kitchen as well as meal time with the ones you love.
OLD FASHIONED APRICOT NECTAR CAKE
Now to the recipe.
This cake is super moist and soft. Personally, I think it is better after it sits a day. It starts with a yellow cake mix. You won’t use the ingredients on the back of the box. Instead, you’ll add these ingredients.
- Yellow cake mix. I used Pillsbury.
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 11.3 ounce can apricot nectar (you’ll use this in the cake and the glaze)
- 3/4 cup oil
- 6-ounce box lemon Jello gelatin (don’t make the Jello, you’ll just use the powder)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
METHOD FOR MAKING
- First, pay extra attention to greasing your pan for this cake. It’s sticky.
- Mixing is easy, simply put all the ingredients in your bowl at once and beat.
- Pour the batter into your bundt pan and bake it in a preheated 350° oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
- If you’re doing the glaze, you’ll pour it on the cake while the cake is hot and still in the pan. It soaks all the way through the cake and is just heavenly. (You can omit the glaze.)
- Turn your cake out onto a serving tray.
- You can serve it warm, it’s great with vanilla ice cream. As well, you can wait until it cools to serve it. This cake is great either way.
OLD FASHIONED APRICOT NECTAR CAKE TIPS AND MORE
I used my Nordic Are Vintage Star bundt pan. This bundt pan is a 10-cup capacity and the batter was to the top so make sure whatever pan you use it’s at least a 10-cup. This is the only ‘specialty’ bundt pan I have. I tend to like the traditional bundt and
Whatever pan you use, be sure to coat it really well with solid vegetable shortening or Wilton Cake Release. This is a sticky cake especially if you pour the syrup over the cake while it’s still in the pan.
Speaking of that glaze/syrup, it makes the cake very moist/wet. It’s almost ‘tres leches cake’ moist if you’re familiar with tres leches cakes. If you don’t want it that wet, you can reduce the glaze or omit it.
Personally, I think the cake is better after it sits a while which makes it great for make-ahead meals and potlucks.
Also, I love to start a cake with a mix when my time is tight. (You can see some of my Cookie and Cake Mix creations here.)
What is the benefit of using a cake mix? It takes me less prep time when I use a cake mix and using a cake mix gives me very consistent results.
While you’re here, check out these recipes
- Citrus Pound Cake
- Orange Creamsicle Pound Cake
- Scratch-made Orange Zest Pound Cake
- Sweet & Sour Citrus Salad
- Orange Bundt Cake
- Orange curd
- You can also find great recipes at Recipe Index
OLD FASHIONED APRICOT NECTAR CAKE
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 11.3 ounce can apricot nectar like this, it's with the canned fruit of fruit juice
- ¾ cup oil any kind
- 6 ounce box lemon flavored gelatin mix* not sugar free
- 2 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sifted then measured
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a bundt pan with solid vegetable shortening and flour or Wilton Cake Release.
- To the bowl of your electric mixer, add cake mix, eggs, ¾ cup apricot nectar, ¾ cup oil, and lemon Jello.
- Mix on medium for 2 minutes, stop the mixer, and scrape the sides and bottom. Beat again for a few seconds.
- Pour the batter into your prepared bundt pan. (I always like to sit mine on a cookie sheet in case of over flow.)
- Bake on the middle rack in the center of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
- Test for doneness with a wooden pick or cake tester. The cake is done when no crumbs or dry crumbs remain on the pick once inserted into the center of the cake.
- Remove from the oven and place the cake on a wire rack to cool. (If the cake doesn't pull slightly away from the pan after a few minutes, take a butter knife and gently loosen the can from the pan.
- While the cake is cooling make the glaze.
- Combine the sifted powdered sugar and the remaining apricot nectar. Whisk to combine.
- With a wooden pick or skewer, poke holes in the cake (at this point the cake is still in the pan.) Pour the glaze over the still hot cake. Reserve about ½ cup of the glaze.
- Allow the cake to cool and absorb the glaze for 20 minutes.
- Again, take the butter knife and gently go around the cake. Turn it out onto a cake platter and pour the reserved glaze over the top of the cake.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before covering. The cake is ready to serve. I, personally think it's better after 12 to 24 hours.
- Store your cake covered. On the counter for 2 days or in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. This cake is very moist so I prefer to refrigerate it.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
I’m curious if I could use real Limoncello (my hubs is stationed in Italy and provides me with this wonderful liqueur)?
Yes, you can.
Mmmm this is a delicious cake!!
This definitely reminded me of something my gran would have made, love it!