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NIGEL SLATER'S SIMPLE DESSERT CAKE RECIPE

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Serves: 6-8

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  • Vegetarian
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He says: A simple cake to serve with summer fruit Moist and fragrant, this is one of those endlessly useful cakes that can be eaten at tea or as a dessert. Shallow and pleasingly unfussy, it is perfect with poached fruit - especially pears, greengages, apricots or fhubarb - or with thick yogurt. It is absurdly easy to make and keeps like a dream.

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Ingredients

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  • 250 grams butter
  • 250 grams caster sugar
  • 1 lemon (organic or unwaxed)
  • 75 grams ground almonds (for the hazelnut cake, subtitute the hazelnuts for the almonds)
  • 100 grams plain flour
  • 100 grams dried apricots (soft)
  • 4 large eggs (free range, lightly beaten)

Method

You will need a shallow 23cm cake tin, the base lined with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

  1. Set the oven at 180 degrees C or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until white and fluffy.
  3. Grate the zest from the lemon and squeeze its juice.
  4. Mix the ground almonds (or hazelnuts) and flour together, then whiz the apricots in a food processor until they are very finely chopped. They must be finer than candied peel - almost, but not quite a puree.
  5. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture a little at a time, with the beater on slow. Turn the machine off and add the lemon zest and a third of the almonds (hazelnuts) and flour, then turn the mixer on slow until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the second and then the third lot of almonds and flour, switching the machine off each time. If you do this too quickly you will end up with a heavy cake.
  6. Lastly, with the machine still on slow, mix in the lemon juice and then apricots.
  7. Transfer the mixture to the lined cake tin with a rubber spatula, gently smoothing the top as you go, then bake until the cake is firm to the touch - about 35 minutes. Test the cake by inserting a thin metal skewer into the centre; if it comes out clean, without any wet cake mixture attached, then the cake is ready. If there is sticky batter on the skewer, bake a while longer.

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