Soft Cake With Dried Fruit

• 7/8 cup salted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 5/16 tablespoons almond powder, *
• 9/16 tablespoon baking powder for cakes
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 5 dried apricots
• 3 figs jumbo
• 2 pitted dates
• 1 cup powdered sugar optional
• 9/16 cup sliced almonds optional

1. Cut the vanilla bean along its length, open it and take a book contained within the seeds by scraping with the tip of a boxcutter.
2. Melt the butter cut into small pieces in a pan and let cool.
3. Meanwhile, sift flour and add to the almond powder.
4. Add half the sugar and set aside.
5. Beat eggs with remaining sugar until they are light and fluffy, add, little by little, the mix of flour and sugar and stir.
6. Pour the melted butter and scented with vanilla seeds.
7. Mix well, then finish with the baking powder.
8. Cut the dried fruit into small pieces and blend it into the mixture from the bottom up.
9. Grease a cake tin of 22 cm in diameter (I used a silicon cake pan of 26 cm), pour the mixture and bake at 190u0b0C for 35-40 minutes (30-35 minutes for my cake).
10. Remove the cake from the oven, let cool and invert on a serving platter.
11. You may want to mix the powdered sugar with 1 or 2 tablespoons of water, spread the icing on the cake obtained and decorate with sliced almonds (I preferred just a slight dusting of icing sugar).
12. If you do not have the powdered almonds or almond flour, blend 30 g blanched almonds with 1 teaspoon of sugar removed from the one indicated in the ingredients. Run the blades of the mixer until you obtain a fine powder.

butter, sugar, flour, almond powder, baking powder for cakes, vanilla bean, apricots, jumbo, dates, powdered sugar, almonds

Taken from www.yummly.com/recipe/Soft-Cake-With-Dried-Fruit-1671713 (may not work)