Apricot Brandy Poundcake

Makes 20 servings

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

This is a fancy cake, flavored with apricot brandy and made moist with sour cream. The glaze remains super shiny thanks to the layer of strained apricot preserves beneath it, a trick picked up from Swiss bakers.

½ teaspoon table salt

½ cup apricot brandy, plus extra for the glaze

1 cup sour cream

3 cups cake flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon best-quality vanilla extract

3 cups granulated sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup apricot preserves

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Set an oven rack in the middle position and reposition the remaining rack below it. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch removable-bottom tube pan. Stir the salt, apricot brandy and sour cream together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Sift flour into a bowl or onto a sheet of waxed paper through a strainer or flour sifter. Spoon the sifted flour into a 1-cup measure, then sweep off excess flour with a knife. Measure all 3 cups of flour this way, pouring flour into a bowl. Sift in soda and whisk dry ingredients until blended.

Whip the butter on high speed until creamy, add the vanilla and whip until well-blended. Gradually add the sugar and whip the butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes, or until the mixture is airy and turns whitish. Reduce the speed to slow and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between additions. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides after every other egg. Now stop mixing. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand (if you are using one) and sift about one-quarter of the flour mixture into the

butter-sugar mixture through a strainer or sifter. Replace the bowl and thoroughly mix the batter on low speed. Drizzle in about one third of the sour cream mixture, mixing until thoroughly incorporated. Continue to alternate sifting in flour and pouring in the sour cream mixture, ending with the flour. When the last of the flour has been added, scrape down the mixture and beat for a few more seconds just to make sure that everything is well-incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the stand and scrape the batter into the prepared tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to break up any air pockets, then smooth the top of the batter. Bake the cake on the middle rack for 1 hour and 20 minutes, turning it from front to back after about one hour for even browning.

While the cake is baking, heat the preserves in a small pan until they are hot and much looser. Strain the preserves and pour them back in the pan.

When fully baked, the cake should be well-browned and firm when lightly pressed. Stick a toothpick into the cake, if desired, to test it; the toothpick should come out clean. Let the cake cool on a rack in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan, running a knife around the edges if it sticks, and place it upside down on a cooling rack. Heat the preserves again and add a tablespoon or two of water if necessary to make them easily spreadable. Brush the preserves all over the cake with a pastry brush to coat it thoroughly and let the cake cool. Whisk the confectioners' sugar with 2 to 4 tablespoons apricot brandy (or use water if you prefer), or just enough to make a thin, smooth,

pourable glaze. Brush this glaze all over the cake. When the glaze is set, transfer the cake to a cake plate. If well-covered, the cake will keep for at least three weeks.