pretty by the bay

I turned 30 last year and honestly, it was pretty anticlimactic. I like being my age. I am happy with my accomplishments and I don’t feel old.

But I do sort of act old.

Recently, I came to the conclusion that certain things make me very, very happy. In no certain order, those things are:

• Coffee
• Knitting
• Baked goods
• Tuna melts (with a pickle on the side)
• Clearance sales
• Large handbags

As such, I may look 30, but my real age is approximately 72.5. Hand me my AARP card and I’ll quietly fade into the background of society.

I came to grips with this realization by baking a coffee cake, which – coincidentally – syncs with three of the items mentioned above. Coffee and baked goods, obviously, but also with knitting as I took it to my Sunday knitting group. YESSSS!

In all seriousness, this was fantastic – an Almond, Pine Nut and Apricot Coffee Cake courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. Any sweet recipe with pine nuts is a total winner in my book. Dried apricots are another bonus, though I guess my inner senior sort of hoped for prunes.

One helpful tip for this recipe: Process the nuts in a mini food processor, if you have one. It’s a small amount of nuts to work with, and I feared my larger processor would just spin them into oblivion.

Almond, Pine Nut and Apricot Coffee Cake

adapted from Giada’s Kitchen

1/2 c sliced almonds, divided

1/2 c pine nuts, divided

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs

1 1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c) butter, melted

1/3 c milk

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 c dried apricots, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350, and grease & flour a 9” cake pan. Toast 1/4 c pine nuts and 1/4 c almonds in a nonstick skillet over medium heat for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a food processor, cool slightly, and pulse until finely ground. Place ground nuts in a bowl and add flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine and set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on medium speed until thickened and yellow. Mix in the melted butter and milk. Stir the apricots and almond extract in by hand, then gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Pour batter into the cake pan and sprinkle with remaining pine nuts and almonds. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, then loosen the edges with a knife and turn cake out of the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut into wedges and serve.