Dried apricots are an excellent source of vitamin A, and a good source of potassium. Apricots also contain relatively large amounts of phytonutrients, especially beta-carotene, which may help protect our cells from damage.
Commercially grown dried apricots may be treated with sulfur dioxide gas during processing. If you are concerned about Sulfite reactions, go for organic dired apricots. Apricot nut cake infuses the nutrient values of dried apricots and walnuts to an everyday cake, making it health and nutritional. This cake has the subtle tart taste of apricots and the sweet taste of mandarins.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour – 2 cups
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Dried apricots – 1 cup
- Orange juice – ¾ cup (Variation: use ½ cup mandarin oranges in light syrup and ¼ cup orange juice, instead)
- Walnuts – ½ cup (lightly toasted)
- Baking powder – 1 ½ teaspoon
- Baking soda- ½ teaspoon
- Salt – ¾ teaspoon
- Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
- Canola oil – ¼ cup
- Vinegar – 1 tablespoon
- Almond extract – ¼ teaspoon
Directions
1. Cut the dried apricots into small pieces. Place them in a cup of boiled water and cover. Apricots would plump up in 15 minutes. Drain them and set them aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F and grease your cake pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Mix well. Stir in the nuts and apricots and toss them with the dry ingredients.
4. In another bowl, whisk orange juice, almond extract and canola oil together. Make sure it is well blended and add vinegar.
5. Pour the wet mixture into dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spatula until they are well combined.
6. Pour the batter in to the greased pan and bake them for 60 minutes or until the tooth prick inserted comes out clean.
Variation
If you have fresh apricots available, you can use fresh apricots instead of dried apricots for this cake. When using fresh apricots, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup (otherwise, cake will taste more tarty) and increase the baking time to 10 more minutes (fresh apricot is juicier and needs more time to cook).
