MACAROON CAKE WITH APRICOTS
(from Taste magazine)
1 1/2 cups dried apricots
225g butter, softened
225g (1 cup) caster sugar
4 medium eggs
150g self raising flour
70g ground almonds
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons milk
Macaroon Topping
3 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut
Put apricots in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a gentle boil. Cook gently until the apricots are very soft, about 15 minutes. Drain.
Line the base of a 23cm loose bottomed tin with baking paper and brush the sides with butter.
Put butter in a bowl and beat with an electric beater until creamy and loose, then beat in caster sugar and beat until fluffy and lighter in colour. Beat eggs with a fork, then gradually add them to the creamed butter and sugar, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of the measured flour to stabilise the mixture.
Sieve the rest of the flour over and fold in using a metal spoon, adding the almonds, lemon zest and milk. Spoon half the mixture into prepared tin, smoothing top with a knife. Put in a layer of apricots, then top with the rest of the cake mixture.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold in sugar and coconut. Spread over the top of the cake. Cook for 50 minutes in an oven- preheated to 180 C (regular bake), or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove cake from the oven and loosen from the tin, but let it cool 15 minutes before removing from the tin. Cool on a wire rack. Serve with thick yogurt or whipped cream.
