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

   











  

Orange and Cranberry Bundt Cake with Fresh Orange Glaze

This morning was wet, cold & miserable...what a perfect opportunity to turn out a few kitchen cupboards.  It's a job I never relish but hey ho it has to be done.  I found a packet of dried cranberries left over from Christmas that needed to be used up.  I had oranges in the fruit bowl so what better than an orange & cranberry cake.  It was also a great excuse to at last use a bundt tin that I bought a while back.

The cake batter was just a regular sponge... 3 eggs, 6oz of self raising flour, sugar & butter.  I made it extra specially moist by pre-soaking the cranberries in orange juice before baking. Needless to say the cake turned out really well and is packed with lovely citrusy flavours along with the sweet/sour bite of the cranberries.

Ingredients:- to serve around 8 good portions.

I used my small 17cm/ 6¾" Bundt tin.  Make sure it's well greased and floured or alternatively use a quick release spray. Alternatively use a 2lb loaf tin or an 7 inch cake tin lined with parchment paper. 

If you prefer to measure in cups rather than weigh your ingredients here's an Easy Conversion Chart  until I can manage to convert it for you . 


For the cake:-

175g /6oz each of self raising flour, softened butter, caster sugar
3 eggs
175g of dried cranberries
2 oranges zested
the juice of 1 ½ oranges
 ( in cups 1½ cups  Self raising flour, ¾ cup superfine sugar, ¾cup/1½ sticks softened butter)  ¾ cup dried cranberries, 3 eggs) 

method,

Before you start baking...soak the cranberries in the juice of 1½ oranges and leave to soak for an hour or so.

Heat the oven to 160c/325f/gas 3

Cream together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy
add the eggs one at a time until well combined...  beat well with each addition
Carefully fold in the flour and the orange zest
Strain the soaked cranberries and orange juice ... reserving the juice for the glaze
add the soaked cranberries to the batter
Mix gently through the batter
Add to the tin.
Should come around 2/3rds of the way up the tin
Place any excess batter in a smaller tin/dish to bake later on  

Bake for approx 35 mins... check to see if baked right through by placing a skewer towards the centre of the cake.   It should be golden brown with no wobble and the skewer should come out clean. If not quite ready then check at 5 minute intervals until cooked through.

Leave in the tin for at least 10 minutes before turning out carefully and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

The glaze, to be applied when the cake is cold.

If there's any orange juice left from soaking the cranberries then add enough icing /confectioners sugar to make a thickish but still runny icing and dribble it over the cake. 
Just use the juice from the last half of the orange if the cranberries have soaked the juice up

Serve & enjoy

This cake should keep for a few days in an airtight container

Little Almond Crescents

Little Almond Crescents

Delicious little treats perfect for serving with morning coffee, afternoon tea or as a petit four for after dinner.

Really easy to make with only a few ingredients.

If you prefer to measure your ingredients then here's a handy Easy Conversion Chart  

• 2 large egg whites lightly beaten
• 3oz/75g flaked Almonds
• 7oz/200g ground Almonds
• 4oz/100g caster sugar
• either a few drops of almond extract or the zest of a large orange grated finely
• a little icing sugar for dusting

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper & heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas4
Place the ground almonds & sugar in a bowl, add the almond extract or orange zest.
Mix in the egg whites to form a slighty sticky mix & bring together
Put the flaked almonds on to a plate
Roll the mixture into a sausage shape
Cut in half and then cut each half into 9 equal pieces making a total of 18
Take one piece at a time and form into a little crescent shape while rolling in the flaked almonds
Place apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until they start the brown very slightly.
Remove from the oven
Cool & sprinkle over icing sugar
If you want you could drizzle over a little dark chocolate or dip one end into melted chocolate.