A soft buttery almond and vanilla cake supports fresh summer apricots, creating a fresh fruit cake that can be served simply as is, or enhanced and accompanied with a creamy custard for a delicious dessert.

Ingredients

• 125 grams butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 eggs - at room temperature
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 apricots - halved and stoned
• 1/4 cup sliced or flaked almonds or macadamia nuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Grease and line a 23cm square cake tin.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and essences together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Sift the flour and baking powder together and gently stir into the creamed mixture.
3. Spread into the prepared cake tin. Sit the fruit, cut side up evenly on the top of the cake. Scatter over the almonds or macadamia nuts.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely. Delicious served warm with runny cream poured liberally on top – the cake will soak up the cream making it squidgy and decadent.

Fast switches:

1. Use canned, well drained apricots.

Freeze me:

1. Place the whole cake in a sealable bag and seal, ensuring little to no air remains inside. Defrost overnight (or during the day) in the refrigerator. To serve warm, place the cake into a 120ºC oven for 15-20 minutes

Jazz me up:

1. Delete the almond essence and sift 1–2 teaspoons of the following, or a combination of the following with the flour and baking powder to spice-up the cake; ginger, mixed spice, cardamom.

Allyson’s tip

1. If you’ve ever had a cake break up into sections when it’s being turned out onto a cake rack, then it’s a right nuisance. Usually it’s because the cake has not had time to ‘rest’ and ‘set’. Here is a guideline: - Sponge cakes: Turn out immediately - Butter cakes, medium-textured cakes: Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. - Heavy fruit cakes: Leave until cool before turning out.