This fresh apricot sheet-pan cake is an ultimate fresh fruit summer dessert How can one resist heart-shaped apricots on a fluffy pastry all dusted with powdered sugar? Impossible!

With simple ingredients you already have in your pantry and in the fridge this gorgeous airy dough is ready in a blink of an eye.All you have to do is get some fresh apricots from the local market to turn them into a masterpiece.
Once you put them in the oven they’ll fill your house with incredible aroma.
How To Make - Step By Step
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Beat egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar.
- Once egg yolks become pale yellow, beat in softened butter.
- Add previously sieved flour together with the baking powder and vanilla extract.
- The batter will be rather thick and that's how it should be.
- Beat egg whites with the remaining sugar and about a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- When you see soft to medium peaks start to form, stop.
- Gently fold in fluffy egg whites into the batter adding a spoon or two at a time.
- Spread the batter over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Wash, dry and pit the apricots. Cut them through the natural split line, remove the pit.
Place apricot halves onto the dough, cut side up. No need to press them too much into the dough. They might even seem to be “falling out” but the oven will do its magic.
- Bake at 350F ( 175C) 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Easy, sheet-pan cake that you cut into squares is perfect dessert to finish summer BBQ. And it’s not so easy to find such a simple (seasonal!) dessert that looks so luxurious!
Want to take your apricot bars to the next level?
Save the apricot pits! Crack them open and extract the seeds. They look like small almonds, and they’re delicious, This is what my mom has been doing for ages.
To be quite honest, it was not my favorite activity to crack the apricot pits (and I had to crack LOTS of them, almost like from every apricot we’d eaten that summer) but at the end it was ALL totally worth it.
Video Recipe
More Fresh Fruit Desserts
Love Italian Food?
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive tips, tricks and new recipes delivered straight to your inbox!
Full Recipe
Fresh Apricot Cake (Sheet-Pan Easy!)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup flour
- ¾ cup sugar (1 cup for a sweeter dough)
- 170 grams butter (softened) equivalent to 6 ounces
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 8 fresh apricots
- confectioner's sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Separate egg yolks from the egg whites.Beat egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar until pale yellow.Mix in softened but not melted butter.
- Add previously sieved flour together with the baking powder and vanilla extract. The batter will rather thick and that's how it should be.
- In a clean bowl beat egg whites with the remaining sugar and about a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. When you see soft to medium peaks starts to form, stop.
- Gently fold in fluffy egg whites into the batter. Add a spoon or two at a time.
- Spread the batter over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Wash, dry and pit the apricots. Cut them through the natural split line, remove the pit. Place apricot halves onto the dough, cut side up. No need to press them too much into the dough. They might even seem to be “falling out” but the oven will do its magic.
- Bake at 350F (175C) 20-25 minutes.
- Let cool completely and generously dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
David Douglas says
Do not recommend eating poisonous apricot kernels. They contain cyanide in deadly amounts.
Dana says
I will definitely try to make it. Thank you! However, a little N.B., the apricot seeds contain potassium cyanide...
Heidi says
They are also a form of vitamin B 17 a massive cancer fighter— Italians use them and bitter almonds which also contain B17 — for millennia!
Sabina says
Can I use apricots from the can?
Pat says
Can you please state what size baking sheet you use for this amount of batter. Thank you, it looks delicious!