ahhh…
… like sinking into a hot bath, it’s great to get back to the kitchen… (yes, even my soon-to-be-oven-less kitchen) and whilst, of course, I always appreciate the opportunity my job gives me to travel the world, the older I get, the happier I am to be home… especially when you have to deal with nasty, evil, bitter PR girls who have nothing better to do but make you feel small.
… and so to update you on the kitchen… the new extension seems almost complete from the outside, which means that they’ll soon be knocking through from the inside… and then I really will no longer have a kitchen… it’s all a bit dusty at present but we’re coping fine… in fact The Viking writes about it very eloquently here.
… so I thought the first thing I should do was to bake a cake and what better place to start than with my favourite bloggers challenge, we should cocoa, hosted this month by the lovely Chele at The Chocolate Teapot… it’s a great challenge, which, if you don’t already take part, I implore you to give it a go… each month the challenge ingredient changes but whatever they choose must be made alongside chocolate… anyway, its brilliant, so check it out…
… this month its apricots!… i do love these plump little nuggets of intense sunshine… I love them fresh, dried, tinned and they’re especially nice in this cake!
Apricot Preserve and Dark Chocolate Cake
this is really just a simple riff on my Grandma Jennie’s Marmalade Cake but i’ve added a few extra’s to spice it up… I’ve used the Green and Blacks Dark Chocolate with Ginger as I think it goes particularly well with the apricots, but whatever you use, do make sure you go for a good quality dark chocolate…
9oz self raising flour
3oz ground almonds
8oz margarine
8oz sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons hot water
2 dessert spoons (4oz) apricot preserve
4oz chopped dried apricots
2oz chopped green and blacks dark chocolate with ginger
– quite literally bung it all (except for the chopped apricots and chocolate) into a bowl and mix it up into a batter
– stir in the chocolate and apricots then pour into a prepared tin.
– bake for 45 mins on 170C
i’ve melted some apricot jam and brushed the top, then sprinkled with some grated chocolate…
… eat and of course, enjoy!
look at that delicious little morsel….
kary and teddy
xx
🙂
Scrumptious Dom, a truely scrumptious looking cake. If I send you a stamped address envelope please may I have some?!
Can I second the comment above and send you an envelope please? I could do with some of this just now!
Hope the kitchen chaos is nearing it's end! It will be fabulous, I'm sure.
So how are you going to eat sans kitchen and for how long will it be so????
Gorgeous cake, a fitting tribute to your last bake in that oven I reckon. Looking forward to seeing what you make in the new one. Thanks for entering and thanks also for the plug.
Wonderful cake Dom. I love apricots too but yet to try them with chocolate. And yes, to good quality dark chocolate.
So, are you gonna have a temporary kitchen?
Lovely looking cake, Dom! Bet it tastes just as good too – using ginger flavoured chcolate is an inspired idea.
Really nice combination of flavours. And it's easy to make – what more could you ask for?
Thanks for the comments. The idea is that we move what we need into the spare bedroom and set up a 'field kitchen' in there. Table, microwave, toaster and fridge and camping stove. It has an en suite bathroom for water etc. Should be interesting!!!
I used to hate anything yellow/orange with chocolate. It'd make me nauseated and even puke. Now it's the total complete opposite.
Apricot, ginger, choc. Total classic deeply aromatic combination!
hey dom…YES !!! i will send in a recipe from the book…..
kary and teddy
🙂
Gorgeous crust, gorgeous crumb – I'm addicted to Green & Blacks with ginger (and with cherry come to think of it) but never thought to put it in a cake x
Gorgeous looking cake Dom, it looks so moist and scrumptious. I've decided to enter We Should Cocoa for the first time this month and I've got some rather nice cupcakes planned…hopefully all will go well!
Your cake looks amazing as always. No oven!? How will you cope? Will you go all caveman and dig a cooking pit in the garden? X
Dom – did you get my last comment? It was a masterpiece!!!!
Clearly not! I'll bullet point;
1 – Love conserve in a cake – want a piece right now!
2 – Good luck going oven-less, I shall be thinking of you!
3 – Thanks for taking part in the challenge
4 – Really pleased to hear you enjoy We Should Cocoa as much as we do ;0)
Oh Dom! Great Cake! I love a man with a plan! Good cake, good plan for cooking during renovation dust storm, good sport all around!
Apricots … do you say 'AAAA… pricots' or Ahhhh… pricots? Just wondering.
I love this cake and using Green and Blacks is a stroke of brilliance.
Dom, I hate to be a pedant and I hope you take this in the spirit it is intended but I want to give you 2 apostrophes to use in your introduction; 1. natures should be nature's 2. mothers should be mother's.
Nice blog bye the way, cheers. 🙂
@ temporary kitchen hire… not only have you come trawling the web searching for people who could possibly need a temporary kitchen hire, which, quite frankly is beyond bothersome but then you go and critique me on my grammar… fuck off!!!!!!!
Yum, sounds delicious and a great combo of flavours.