Apricot, Amaretti, Chocolate Crunch Cake

If like me you're a fan of those deliciously bitter sweet Almond Amaretti biscuits then you're going to love this cake,  A deliciously different bake with the tang of fresh apricots, creaminess of dark chocolate along with the crunch and nuttiness of the Amaretti. I've adapted the recipe from a leaflet that I picked up in Waitrose a while back...sometimes these little giveaway recipes are a real treasure to find.

Here's a little bit of the interesting history of these wonderful little Italian Almond Macaroons that I have sourced from Wikipedia. I didn't realise that they had such a romantic connotation or that the actual crushed kernels of the apricot stone were often used to make these darling morsels.
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 Amaretti di Saronno (singular amaretto di Saronno) refer to an amaretto (almond flavored) macaroon that is traditional to Saronno, a comune of Lombardy, Italy. It is one of many types of traditional amaretto biscuits.

The Amaretti di Saronno are widely available commercially, most notably through the brand Lazzaroni. Amaretti di Saronno are unrelated to Amaretto liqueur, which is produced by two other companies based in Saronno - ILLVA and PLF.

The invention of this amaretto has received an amorous Renaissance treatment. In the early 18th century, a Milanese bishop or cardinal surprised the town of Saronno with a visit. A young couple, residents of the town, welcomed him and paid tribute with an original confection: on the spur of the moment, they had baked biscuits made of sugar, egg whites, and crushed apricot kernels or almonds. These so pleased the visiting bishop that he blessed the two with a happy and lifelong marriage, resulting in the preservation of the secret recipe over many generations.

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 THE CAKE:-

It's a really easy throw everything together recipe that takes only minutes to prepare. We enjoyed this over the weekend with our late morning coffee instead of our normal brunch but it certainly can be eaten at any time of the day and would make the perfect dinner time dessert when served with a dollop of mascarpone.

If you prefer to measure your ingredients rather than weigh them here's a detailed conversion chart

THE INGREDIENTS:-

200 gms Skinned and chopped fresh Apricot flesh ( approximately 4 large or 6 small fruits chopped into 1" cubes)
50 gms dark chocolate chips
150 gms Amaretti (roughly crushed)
125 gms Plain flour
1½ tsp Baking Powder
100gms Ground Almonds
3 eggs beaten
175 gms unsalted butter ( at room temperature)
175 gms caster (superfine sugar)
A little Icing (Confectioners Sugar) to dust
A chopped apricot to decorate (optional)

Butter and line a 20cm baking tin (preferably with a loose base) with baking parchment..

Set the oven to 150c 300F Gas 2

METHOD:-

Place the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, almonds and eggs into a large bowl and beat together either with a whisk or by hand until well combined.

Now fold in carefully ¾ of the chocolate chips, ¾ of the chopped apricots and ¾ of the Amaretti biscuits.

Place the batter into the prepared tin ...level it and then roughly scatter over the  remaining chocolate chips, apricots & Amaretti.

Place in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for approximately 1 hour 20 minutes.  Check to make sure there is no wobble in the centre of the cake, Test with a skewer if it comes out clean it's ready. Test at 7 minute intervals if it isn't quite baked through.

Leave in the tin on a wire rack until quite cold.  Remove the parchment paper and it's ready to serve
Dust with icing sugar and decorate with a chopped apricot (Optional)

We served ours with deliciously creamy Mascarpone on the side

   











  

Apricot & Almond Marshmallows

Apricot and Almond Marshmallows

 

 

 

 

I quite often turn on the TV while I'm cooking in the kitchen. It's mainly just a background noise and usually tuned in to anything to do with cooking. Travels with Lynda Bellingham came on and I was intrigued by a woman who kept chickens and held clandestine dinner parties. She made some wonderful looking marshmallows with apricots & almonds. Of course I was only half watching thinking that I could look the recipe up on the Internet later. Of course I scoured everywhere looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere.

Not giving up I decided to use a basic Marshmallow recipe and do my own thing regarding the apricot & almonds. I had to wait overnight for them to set before I could turn them. Of course I was half expecting a complete disaster but no, they are just about the best marshmallows I've ever had. Unbelievably yummy and so grown up in flavour.

 

I've now got the marshmallow bug and I can't wait to try different flavours, vanilla & strawberry, pecan and maple syrup, rum & raisin, pistachio, rosewater the list could be endless.   

 

Here's how I made them, be prepared for quite a bit of washing up but it's so well worth the mess you're going to make.

 

Ingredients

 

16 Pre-soaked dried Apricots soaked in 3tbsps of Amaretto failing this orange juice will do

Blitz the apricots in a food processor and set aside

3oz  flaked almonds toasted

 

½ cup icing (confectioner's sugar)

½ cup cornflour (cornstarch)

sift these two items together into a bowl and set aside

 

butter a 13 x 9" oven tray really well

Sprinkle over a good coating of the icing sugar/cornflour mixture reserving the rest for later. 

 

2 separate ½cups of water

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 packets of gelatin (¼oz packets)

1 tsp almond extract

 

the whites of 3 large eggs

a pinch of salt

an eighth of a tsp of cream of tartar

 

Method

 

1. Place the first half cup of water into the bowl of your mixer and sprinkle over the gelatin. Leave to stand for a few minutes Once the gelatin has dissolved whisk until it becomes really thick and fluffy (around 8 to 10 minutes) Add the almond extract. 

 

2. Place the second half cup of water into a saucepan and add the granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and turn on the heat to a medium setting. Continue heating & check with a sugar thermometer until it reaches  175c /240f (soft ball stage) and remove from the heat.

 

3. With an electric hand mixer beat the egg whites until frothy, add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until stiff.

 

4. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture while the mixer is beating on a medium/high speed until well mixed and thick. Fold in the apricot mixture and very gently fold in the beaten egg whites until it's all incorporated.

 

5 Pour into the prepared tin, sprinkle over the almonds and leave to set in a cool place (not the fridge). Once mine had set on top I lightly covered it with parchment paper so that the air could still get at it.

 

6. I made mine in the late afternoon and didn't turn it out until the next morning but it will need around 12 hours to ensure that it's thoroughly set.

 

7. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and liberally cover it with your icing sugar/ cornflour mix. Gently ease around the edges of your tin with a pallet knife slightly lifting underneath as you do and then turn the tin over onto the parchment paper, hopefully it should all plop out. If not just try again but be gentle with it.

 

8. With a really sharp unstated knife cut into whatever size you like . Do not use a sawing motion as you'll get rough edges just press firmly down. You could also use cutters to make different shapes.

 

9.Toss all the pieces liberally with the icing and cornflour. Store in a parchment lined, airtight container.

 

 

I really hope you enjoy these, we never got around to storing ours, they were scoffed in minutes