Cakes Recipes - Pineapple and Apricot Cake

Ingredients

• 175g unsalted butter

• 150g caster sugar

• 3 eggs, beaten

• few drops vanilla essence

• 225g plain flour

• 1.5ml salt

• 7.5ml baking powder

• 225g ready to eat dried apricots, chopped

• 115g each chopped crystallized ginger and crystallized pineapple

• grated rind and juice of 1/2 orange

• 1 little milk

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180.C/350"F/Gas 4. Double line an 18cm/7in square or 20cm/8in round cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually beat in the eggs with the vanilla essence, beating well after each addition. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, add a little with the last of the egg, then fold in the rest.

3. Gently fold in the apricots, ginger and pineapple and the fruit rinds, then add sufficient fruit juice and milk to give a fairly soft dropping consistency

4. Spoon into the cake tin and smooth the top with a wet spoon. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160.C/325 "F/Gas 3 and bake for a further 1-2 hours, or until firm to the touch and a skewer comes out of the centre clean. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin. Wrap in fresh paper before storing in an airtight tin.