Apple Apricot Cake

Last month I stocked up on apples to support the LTU Apple event. But I only managed one submission which was Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake. Before the month ended, I was struck with dengue and my plans for the apples went out the window. Luckily, these green apples keep very well.

I had to bake something using these apples before they went bad. That's when I remembered this Apple Apricot Cake. Previously, I used this recipe and adapted it to bake Banana Apricot Cake. I have never baked a cake with apples before (except the cheesecake).

The apricots used in this recipe are dried apricots. From my previous experience, I knew that it would be best to cut the dried apricots into smaller pieces. I also followed the recipe and boiled the apricots with orange juice instead of just soaking them like I did the last time. The recipe did not say to boil for how long and I reckon 5-10 minutes should suffice. The orange juice turned very thick and syrupy and tasted very nice. Unfortunately, there was a change of plans and I could not bake the cake that day. So I kept the boiled apricots in the fridge.

The next morning, I noted that the apricot mixture turned even thicker. I tasted a piece and it was very nice. The dried apricot had tuned softer and was infused with orange flavour. What I like about this recipe is that it is very straightforward. And not only that, it uses 250g of butter and 5 eggs. Yes, my kinda cake. Lot of butter and lots of eggs hee..hee..

The apples are grated and mixed into the batter. And when the cake was baking, it smelled really, really good. When I tasted my first slice, I was very impressed with not only the taste, but the aroma. It smelt so good! The cake was studded with the orange infused apricots and they complemented the cake very well. But my folding was not even and some spots were crammed with apricots. I suppose raisins would also be good in this cake. The cake is moist and the crumbs are tender. But it was a bit crumbly too and I could not get nice clean slices. A very good bake and to be repeated since I still have a few more apples to spare :)

Apple Apricot Cake

Recipe source : Lovely Butter Cake (page 53)

Ingredients A :

- 250g butter

- 180g caster sugar (in future can be further reduced to 160g)

- 280g self-raising flour

- 5 eggs

- 250g green apples, peeled and grated into thick shreds

Ingredients B (boil and set to cool) :

- 150g dried apricots (I cut into small pieces)

- 90g fresh orange juice (I used juice from 2 oranges)

Note : I boiled for about 10 minutes. I reckon this step is to soften the dried apricots and to infuse them with orange flavour.

Method :

1. Beat butter and sugar till fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

2. Add self-raising flour and green apples, mix well.

3. Add ingredients B and mix well.

4. Pour the mixture into greased baking mould sprinkled with flour. (I used a 10" bundt pan)

5. Bake in preheated oven at 175C for 55-60 minutes (I baked at 160C for 45 minutes)

This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #17 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.