I needed something for my morning teas this week, so I decided to whip up an apricot loaf (p27). It's a variation on the date loaf recipe, i.e exactly the same, only with apricots instead of dates.
To soften the apricots, you chop them up and put them in a bowl with boiling water, baking soda and butter, stir it all together and then leave it for an hour.
When the soaking time is up, you add sugar, egg, walnuts and vanilla essence to the mixture, and beat it through. Finally, sift in the flour and baking powder, and mix it carefully until just combined. I find this incredibly difficult, and always end up overmixing my ingredients because I can't seem to get it all combined.
The combined mixture goes into the oven for 45 minutes. I'd written "40" next to this after trying the date version, so I started checking the apricot loaf after about 35 minutes. I needn't have been so careful: this one took the full 45. I did have to place a piece of baking paper over the top part-way through the cooking time, otherwise the top would have burnt.
The resulting loaf was quite an interesting combination of crunchy crust and soft, fruity loaf. I suspect the crust isn't actually part of the intended result, but actually I liked the texture it added. Soaking the apricots had made them soft and juicy, so there was no chance of the loaf being too dry.
Overall, I liked it. Is it better than the date version? Actually, I think it might be!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular posts this week
-
You'll remember that last week I made some raspberry jam, because there are recipes that require it as an ingredient. You may also remem...
-
I've never had much luck with banana cakes. They always seem to come out overcooked on top and gooey in the centre. Yet I still make one...
-
Pumpkin soup (p89) was an obvious recipe to be making during my budget challenge; pumpkins are particularly cheap at the moment. Even so, ...
-
I'd had my eye on apricot marshmellow (p198) for quite a while. It was one of the recipes I considered when I was trying to use up lefto...
-
Well, actually my gravy did need sieving. But I'm getting ahead of myself here... This particular journey began - as so many do - wit...
-
Not many people use dried beans these days. They're very economical, but it can be a bit confusing knowing exactly what to do with them ...
-
Everyone who hears about my Edmonds Challenge tells me their favourite recipes. It's always interesting to hear which ones people like a...
-
I'm sure you've been wondering what I plan to do with all that baking. The thing is, every year I do a lot of baking and take trays ...
-
On Friday evening I headed down to Rakaia for a barbecue at Bex's place, the occasion being the celebration of her 30th birthday. Natura...
-
Back when I'd finished my first 100 recipes, I wrote an entry listing my ' top 10 ' so far. I'd actually intended to do thes...
No comments:
Post a Comment