This is a favourite family recipe that means Summer to us. It was made regularly by a very special lady who made it for us when we visited her in her home in Templestowe, Melbourne. She would go outside and collect a few ripe apricots that had fallen from her tree and whip this up in no time. She was Austrian, loved to entertain and passed away some years ago but the memory of her and her wonderful cooking still remains with us all 🙂
Ingredients:
125g butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
rind 1 lemon
2 eggs
2 cups self raising flour, sifted
milk to make soft batter
Method:
- Beat butter and sugar until pale.
- Mix in lemon rind and eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Fold in sifted flour with enough milk to make a smooth batter. If you have used unsalted butter it will need a pinch of salt added with the flour.
- Spread into flat slice tin. Top with halved apricots skin side down.
- Sprinke with a little sugar and cinnamon if apricots are not ripe or if you like these flavours.
- Bake 160° Fan Forced 30-45 minutes.
- Dust with icing sugar when cold.
Delicious served for afternoon tea or dessert with whipped cream. 🙂
hi trudy – i have a Siemens conventional oven as well as the steam oven – but my question is for the conventional oven and baking – what oven position do you bake your cakes and temperatures – I am thinking say a medium to large Christmas Cake – and also small cupcakes or fairy cakes I think some people call them.
I don’t seem to have much luck with the small cakes and I thought I would ask before I start on my christmas cookery. Also can you recommend a temperature setting for the small things. The instruction books are not really that good. Thanks for all the help and expertise Marie
Hi Marie,
The positioning of food in any oven depends on what function you are cooking on. See my post “What function do I cook this on?” The pictures of the elements determine where you place your food, eg Fan Forced element at the back of the oven = it doesn’t matter where, Conventional oven with top and bottom elements on = in the middle etc.
Have a look at my recipes for temperatures (search for cakes) and remember to reduce your temperatures on old recipes by 20oC if your using Fan Forced. All my recipes say exact temperatures you can use. Cup cakes are just a moderate 160oC Fan Forced oven.
Regards Trudy