13.05.10 - Apricot and Orange Cake or how NOT to bake a cake

Casting a quick eye over the recipe I hastily agreed with myself that I had all the ingredients and that this cake would be perfect for Wednesday evening's Knit n Knatter and as I didn't really have much time before I was to set off for work - I'd better get on with baking.

So, reading the instructions rather than READING the ingredients I started.

......................Line the loaf tin with silver foil..............

(erm, sod that, I'll just oil it very well), so I dug in the baking tins until I unearthed my 1 lb loaf tin, glugged in oil, flipped and flapped the oil brush around in all the corners and put it aside.

.....................cream butter and sugar until yadda yadda yadda 


(I grabbed said butter and sugar and started weigh them) 


.................8oz sugar (oof - this going to be a sweet cake)
.................8oz butter (oops - this is going to be a BIG cake) 


I started to cream them together, well I tried to. The butter was too hard. A light sheen of sweat began to grace my brow.

................add the eggs one at a time (eggs, eggs, how many, a quick look at the ingredients again)

FOUR eggs? FOUR?  oh, hmm - I looked at the 1lb loaf tin and wondered if it was big enough. (I know, I will just look at the instructions again - damn - its a TWO pound loaf tin)


A slight pause as I stared at my weakling 1lb loaf tin. Hmmmm. The loaf tin visibly shrunk in shame. I grabbed it and tossed it into the washing up water in disgust. I then had what I can only describe as 'A light-bulb moment' when an idea fell into my head. So I charged off next door to borrow their 2lb loaf tin.

Home again, with booty, eyes glittering with success, I oiled the TWO pound tin ready for the ever increasing cake.

Taking deep breaths to re-concentrate my baking mojo, I cast a watchful eye on the kitchen clock, knowing full well that I had have this cake baked and out of the oven cooling before I went to work.

I went back to the recipe.
.................Sift flour and (I reached for the flour - damn, where was it?) My mad scrabbling in the baking cupboard began to indicate signs of strain.

.................and baking powder (I am not of the fainting persuasion, but I am sure if I was, it would be at this point that I should slap the back of my hand to my forehead in an Emily Bronte sort of way, roll my eyes upwards and sink gracefully to the floor with a barely audible moan - but, I didn't - I just swore like a navvy and slammed the cupboard)

 NO-B****Y-BAKING-POWDER either..!

My eyes darted around the kitchen in a futile attempt to will both flour and baking powder to appear sheepishly - but even that didn't work. Panting in a slightly manic way I turned my wallet upside down - empty - reached for Eldest's pocket money and flush faced I raced down the road to our local post office to purchase anything - ANYTHING that vaguely resembled either flour or baking powder.

A rather started postmistress pointed out the small (and consequently expensive) packets of flour and even offered baking powder out of her own kitchen in order to calm the whirling dervish I was becoming.

Galloping back up the hill home, glassy eyed whilst triumphantly clutching two priceless packets of flour to my heaving bosom, I was sure to complete the cake and still have it cooked before leaving the house for work.

.............sift the flour and baking powder and fold in the orange rind and juice and the chopped apricots... 
(who'd mentioned orange ****** rind) and APRICOTS - CHOPPED? CHOPPED?! - what did this recipe want - BLOOD??!

Frantic chopping, juicing, rinding quickly ensured. I ran my eyes over the ingredients and saw that dried fruit and nuts were there. No nuts but hey! can substitute with sunflower seeds.

I stopped. There was no way - NO WAY - that this cake was going to fit in the 2lb loaf tin. I stared at the 2lb weakling of a tin, strangely it too seemed to shrink away in fear. Strangely it too was hurled into the washing up water.

I reached for my round tin - the one with a hole in the centre - the one the size of a wheelbarrow wheel. I was going to bake this cake and n-o-t-h-i-n-g was going to stop me.

I hurled all the nuts sunflower seeds, dried fruit and extra apricots into the base and then added the cake mix. Put it in the oven - and stepped back.
 Then, and only then, did I read the recipe - properly. Trembling at the near disaster it could have been, I quietly contemplated baking and mental stress levels whilst washing up various sizes of tins, knives, oil brushes, mixing bowls, the wall, the kitchen counter, the floor and anything else that seemed to have been unexpected included in the baking frenzy.

So - if you do make this recipe - please read ALL the instructions including how NOT to bake a cake.

226gm (80z) butter
226gm (8oz) sugar
4 eggs
283 gm (10oz) plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
Juice and rind of 1 orange
56gm (2oz) chopped dried apricots
Optional chopped nuts, dried fruit - for sprinkling into the the tin before adding the cake mix.

1. Line a TWO POUND loaf tin with silver foil (alternatively splat on oil)
2. preheat oven to 150deg C/300deg F/Gas mark 2)
3. Cream butter and sugar together
4. add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
5. Sift the flour AND the baking powder
6. Fold into the creamed mixture the orange rind, juice and chopped apricots.
7. Mix lightly till smooth
8. sprinkle a layer of chopped apricots, dried fruit or nuts sunflower seeds in the base of the tin
9. Pour in cake mix
10. Place in the centre of a moderate oven for 1 hour and 15 mins
11. Remove from tin and allow to cool.
12. Hide from Husband
13. Run to work and barely make it in time.

PS - The cake went down very well - I will make it again, it has made my 52 recipes and was very  worth the effort (I think.....)!!

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**Added Later - What I forgot to mention were the following extra incidents related to the making of this cake

1. Not having enough icing sugar - so having to borrow some from another benevolent neighbour, who didn't have enough either so lent me some caster sugar that had to be ground down first to be made fine enough to use
2. Having Himself and boys hanging around hopefully to have first taste only to be told it wasn't for them - not just yet any way
3. The glorious apricotty scent and taste of the cake when we finally got to eat it at Knit and Knatter 
4. The reason for the cake? Well to celebrate my Mom's birthday - so it had to be good!