Recipe: Apricot and Walnut Cake

Turn teatime into a special occasion with this week’s tried-and-tested cake recipes (YOU, 22 October). This cake is best when left to stand for two days, contains very little fat and is packed with fibre.

CAKE:

150 g dried apricots;

500 ml (2 c) rooibos tea;

300 ml caster sugar;

50 g walnuts, roughly chopped;

rind and juice of half a lemon;

2 extra-large eggs;

250 ml (1 c) milk;

750 ml (3 c) self-raising flour;

2 ml (½ t) salt;

45 ml (3 T) butter, melted.

DECORATION:

125 ml (½ c) crème fraiche;

apricots;

finely chopped walnuts.

CAKE:

Soak the apricots in the rooibos tea overnight. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease a 21 cm square cake tin. Line the base with baking paper. Drain and finely chop the apricots and mix with the sugar, walnuts and lemon rind and juice. Whisk together the eggs and milk. Sift together the flour and salt and add to the egg mixture, beating well. Add the melted butter to the batter and mix well. Turn the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. Leave the cake to stand for a few minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut the cake into squares.

DECORATION: Top each square with a little crème fraiche, apricots and a sprinkling of nuts.

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