Shelly's Recipe

APRICOT CRUMB CAKE

Category: Coffee Cake

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons tub-style light cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup 1% low-fat milk
3 tablespoons part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
Cooking spray
1/4 cup apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 350F.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl, and cut in the margarine and cream cheese with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Reserve 1/2 cup flour mixture for topping; set aside.

Combine the remaining flour mixture, baking powder, and baking soda, and add the milk, ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, orange rind, and egg. Beat the mixture at medium speed of a mixer until blended (batter will be lumpy), and fold in the chopped apricots. Spoon the batter into an 8-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Dot the batter with apricot preserves, and swirl the preserves into the batter using a knife. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup flour mixture over the batter. Bake 350F for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Makes 8 servings.