Thursday 11 July 2013

Banana Apricot Cake


Whoa! Please excuse me while I admire my cake. When this thing came out of the pan, I was so proud of myself :)



If anyone of you is feeling nauseous at this moment, I apologise. There's no praise like self praise! (Trumpets blaring loudly).

The original recipe is Apple Apricot Cake but I was desperately trying to finish off a big comb of bananas, hence the substitution. I was hesitant at first, wondering if bananas would go with oranges and apricots. But Sonia's Six Threes Ice Cream convinced me that the orange part would be OK because her ice-cream is a combination of bananas, oranges and lemon. I will just have to take a gamble with the banana/apricot combo.



Many years ago, my auntie gave me a bag of dried apricots which she brought back from New Zealand. That was the first time I tasted dried apricots and I loved it so much. So much so that I finished the whole bag in one sitting and got myself into trouble the next day. Yup, fibre is good for you but when you consume too much, heh..heh...it results in many trips to the loo. 



After that incident, I did not get to eat dried apricots until my auntie's next trip back from NZ. Somehow, over the years I lost my taste for dried apricots. I don't enjoy them as much as I used to. However, I was curious what it would be like in a cake when I saw this recipe in the book Lovely Butter Cakes.



The recipe requires the apricots to be boiled with orange juice. That was kind of weird for me and I chose to soak the apricots in orange juice for about 3 hours (I saw this method in Chef Wan's Cookbook). I made one mistake. I should have cut the apricots into smaller pieces. That realisation came to me after I dumped the apricots into the batter. Since I have not mixed them in yet, I picked them up one by one and snipped them using my kitchen scissors. Still, they were not small enough (will take note in next bake).

I baked the cake in an 8" bundt pan because bundt cakes are so lovely to look at. By the way, this pan was given to me by my auntie. In fact she gave me two bundt pans. The other one is a 10" pan. Thank you Ee-Ee!



Although I buttered the pan very generously, the cake refused to come out when I flipped the pan over. I had to apply a few hard taps before it finally budged. And when I lifted the pan, yes, I shall repeat....this beauty greeted me. Hello, beautiful cake! (Trumpets blaring loudly again).



So how did it taste? I am sorry to say that in spite of it's stunning look, I was not very impressed with the taste. Don't get me wrong, the cake itself (without the apricot chunks) tasted very good. It was a good banana cake with orangey flavour and I loved it. But when eaten with the apricots it wasn't that great. All I tasted was the tangy apricot and it sort of overpowered the cake. Maybe if the apricot pieces were smaller and more evenly distributed in the cake, it would taste better.



So till my next bake, I leave you with this recipe taken from Lovely Butter Cakes with my notes in red.









Banana Apricot Cake (Originally Apple Apricot Cake)
Recipe source : Adapted from Lovely Butter Cakes (page 53)

Ingredients A :
- 250g butter
- 150g caster sugar (original recipe 180g)
- 280g self-raising flour
- 5 eggs
- 250g bananas, mashed (original recipe uses 250g green apples, peeled and grated into thick shreds)

Ingredients B :
-150g dried apricots (I recommend to cut into small pieces)
- Juice from 1 whole orange juice (original recipe 90g orange juice)
Note : Original recipe says to boil apricots in orange juice and set aside to cool. I instead soaked the apricots in the orange juice for 3 hours)

Method :
1. Generously butter an 8" bundt pan and sprinkle with flour and set aside (I put in the fridge)
2. Beat butter and sugar till fluffy.
3. Add eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add self-raising flour and mashed bananas. Mix well.
5. Add ingredients B and mix well.
6. Pour the batter into the bundt pan, tap pan on work surface to level the batter.
7. Bake in preheated oven at 160C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
8. Cool on cooling rack for about 10-15 minutes and invert onto plate to release the cake from the pan.
9. Let cool before slicing.






This post is linked to Cook-Your-Books #2 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

57 comments:

  1. Hi Phong Hong, I baked your chocolate orange buttercake and it was lovely, I distributed most of it to a bunch of active students and kept the rest for lunch...so delicious!:D This is another beautifully baked cake...will take note of your "mistake" and not repeat it should I want to bake it:D

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    1. Jeannie, glad your tried the chocolate orange cake. Yah, if you plan to bake the apricot cake, make sure you cut the dried apricots into tiny pieces.

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  2. nampak sungguh moist ..yang ni pun I tanda Ph

    Apa apa pun jika terlebih memang ada akibatnya hehe.

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    1. Betul cakap CM tu! Ini kes masuk bakul angkat sendiri hee..hee...berat pulak tu :D

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  3. Hi Phong Hong! Hope you are doing fine. cake looks Moist and great

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    1. Hi Swasthi! I'm good, thanks. The cake is moist but I wasn't thrilled with the apricots :(

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  4. Good morning,
    Oh yes I loved eating those dried apricots too but yours was hilarious hahaha.
    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Hi Elaine! Too much of a good thing is bad hah! hah!

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  5. ivy sew http://simplybeautifulhealthyliving.blogspot.com11 July 2013 at 10:55

    Phong Hong, the colour itself is already so tempting :)

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    1. Thanks, Ivy! It is a very cheerful colour :)

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  6. Yummy!!! Would go perfectly well with ice cream, I'm sure. Slurpssss!!!!

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    1. Ooohh...why I didn't think of that? Must serve with ice cream next time :)

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  7. This cake looks so moist and delicious! Would love the bananas and apricots combination as its so unique.

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    1. Mich, I think bananas pretty much goes with a lot of other fruits. That's why I love having banana in cakes especially with chocolate.

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  8. really you should be proud of yourself. I mean I am eating with my eyes glued to lap.

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    1. Thank you, Sebeena! I am gaining more confidence in baking :)

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  9. Rajen nya tiap tiap kali buat kuih.your cake looks so yummy I lau nyuior titek tiek boh koh lian gua I would love to eat the cake .Yah next time cut it into much smaller pieces.HEM when I go back I am going to buy for you dried apricots so you have no choice but to bake this cake for me ,Deal?? Wish I can be your neighbour.

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    1. EE, sure I will bake the cake for you! Don't forget to bring back chocolate chips also heh..heh...

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  10. HAH HAH HAH...YOU ARE HILARIOUS SIS!!!

    okay, akak tumpang tiup trumpet tu sekali!
    yes akak memang nausea masuk sini, bukan sebab you puji diri sendiri tapi hati gerrrraammmm tengok gambar kek sedap lazat gebu lembut kebabom pagi2!!! aduiii....sabar...sabar...sabar... puasa jauh lagi ni...

    sis, you memang wife and mummy yg hebat di dapur, lain2 tempat hebat jugak tak? hahaha...usik2 you jer...akak bz la lately, so jarang dpt jalan2 masuk blog kengkawan....pagi ni ada senang sikit, meleleh air liur tengok macam2 resepi ada....nakal eh you!

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    1. Kak Q! Macam dah lama tak jumpa jer. Eh, segan lah..jangan puji banyak sangat. Nanti hidung PH kembang hee..hee...

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,

    I'm impressed with the cake when I first saw your picture... Sad that you didn't like it.

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe, the cake itself without the dried apricots tasted good. But I will bake this cake again and make sure that I cut the apricots smaller.

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  12. Very well PH, the look simply perfect but too bad you didn't like it.

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    1. Thanks, Sonia! I was disappointed with the dried apricot taste. Should have cut smaller than it will be better.

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  13. Phong Hong, the cake looks lovely to me, I think orange juice and banana is a good combination in baking cake. So sad that you don't like the apricots in the cake!

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    1. Jozelyn, I will bake this cake again with apricots cut smaller. The big chunks made the taste too strong.

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  14. Hi Phong Hong, hmmm yummy, can I have some????? Sure all finished by now..

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    1. Heh..hee..Kimmy, no more already even though I complain the apricot not nice...

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  15. Phong Hong,this cake is baked beautifully!!!
    Don't worry, I help you to finish it,hahaha...

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    1. Esther, you are very kind and I hope you like dried apricots hee..hee...

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  16. Hi Phong Hong,
    Your cakes looks lovely and delicious! Dried apricots are very strong in taste, and it is my favourite dried fruit! Each time I use it for baking, a few pieces would go missing! Haha! This looks like a very nice cake with lovely moist texture, perhaps you could try it again with canned apricots, drained and wipe dry!
    Thank you for linking to CYB!

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    1. Thanks, Joyce! I have not seen canned apricots before. Maybe I should search for it at Cold Storage.

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  17. Hi Phong Hong, I'm impressed! This cake look awesome and beautiful, very well baked. Keep up the good job.

    Have a nice week ahead.

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    1. Thank you, Amelia! This is my first cake that I feel so proud because it looks so beautiful hah! hah!

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  18. No, not feeling nauseous at all reading your self praised..if feeling nauseous, will get a cube of that crystallised ginger in my fridge ! hehe..

    never mind, at least you have tried and eaten..no waste! it looks pretty though !

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    1. Hah! Hah! Lena, I very thick skin, hor? The cake itself was actually good. Next time I will try just banana and orange.

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  19. Maybe it's like you said lah...too big piece.

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  20. Phong Hong, your bundt cake with the dried apricots looks so incredibly moist, and perfectly delicious. Perhaps you should have stayed with the original addition of the apples. since bananas have a distinct flavor of their own, and I really don't think its the apricots that is over powering.

    You should be proud of yourself...I'm proud of you, as well! We have an abundance supply of dried fruits here, in S. Florida, and dried apricots are one of the many of the dried fruits. I love snacking on them just the way they are, but in baking, they are incredible. I love your recipe, and do want to try it with the grated, or chopped. I think it would be a nice pairing with the dried apricots. I love your use of words...'sound the trumpets'...LOL, still hearing them~

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    1. Thank you, Elisabeth! You are right, I should have stuck to apples. I will be baking this cake again with the apples and this time round I am pretty sure I would enjoy the cake. Hah! Hah! Hope the trumpets didn't keep you awake at night :)

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  21. I would be very proud of myself too if my cake turn out this beautifully! ;) It's okay to praise ourselves when we deserve it, right? This cake looks so moist and I love the flavor combination. Now, I need to go dig out my cake pan and make one too. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Hi Amy! Hah! Hah! Self praise is alright once in a while I guess :) Do try this cake but make sure to cut the apricots smaller. Or use the original recipe - green apples instead of banana.

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  22. The cake looks beautiful and the combination sounds good, banana, apricot and orange! I think you are right, it will be better if the apricot are cut into smaller pieces like in fruit cakes, just my thoughts :)

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    1. Many thanks! Yup, the apricots should have been cut a lot smaller. Will re-attempt in the near future.

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  23. Yummy spongy cake...Folloing you...would appreciate if you can follow me back and like my page on FB
    http://kiransaboo.blogspot.in/

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    1. Hi there! Thanks for following and I will follow shortly :)

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  24. this looks a nice cake, ya i think is the apricot was small enough it will b good.

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    1. Thanks, xing hui! Next time must not be lazy and cut apricots into smaller pieces :)

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    2. Thanks, xing hui! Yah, next time I must not be lazy and cut the apricots smaller :)

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  25. Hi Phong Hong, came across your blog. This cake looked lovely to me and the orange,banana & apricot combination sounds good to me too. I will help myself with a slice..

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    1. Hi Cecilia! Thanks for coming over and yes, do help yourself with a slice or two!

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  26. Phong Hong, this cake is very pretty and delicious too. Dry apricot I have some here in the pantry. Would it be great if I try this recipe out.

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    1. Thanks, Angeline! This is the prettiest cake I ever baked :)

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  27. Hello Phong Hong :)

    I came across this recipe blog of yours through a google search for Apricot Cake :) I haven't got any apricots, BUT, I do have a tub of Apricot-flavoured-yoghurt in the fridge that I want to use in a cake soon. I've got some apples, nectarines, pears and bananas as well sitting around in the kitchen. SO I was wondering which of these fruit would go with the apricot flavour should I wish to combine them in a cake :)
    I love love love the photo of your cake. I would "masuk bakul angkat sendiri" as well if it came out of my hard work :p
    Thank you for the inspiration & keep up your good work :)

    xxx De

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  28. Hi Deels Goodland! I think all the above fruits go very well with apricot flavor. And thanks for the compliments!

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