Banana & Apricot Cake

This is especially for Irish to bake for her Bogman on a Sunday...

To make up for his deprivation over his dearly departed archaic PC parts, a little sugar and carbohydrate fix is in order. Hopefully Irish has all this in her kitchen !

Banana & Apricot Cake

3.5 ozs Butter (chilled and chopped in little pieces)
8 ozs Self Raising Flour
2 3/4 ozs Caster Sugar
2 ozs dried Apricots (chopped)
2 ozs Raisins
2 Bananas (roughly mashed)
2 tablespoons Honey
2 Eggs (beaten)

1. Rub the butter into the flour in a large bowl until it looks a bit like fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir the sugar, chopped apricots, raisins, bananas, eggs and honey into the dry ingredients. Mix until it is nice and soft.

3. Spoon the mixture into a 2lb loaf tin, which has been greased with butter and is lined on the bottom with a piece of greaseproof paper.

4. Level off the top.

5. Bake in an oven heated to 160C / 325F / Gas Mark 3 for about 1 hour. A thin skewer should come out clean when poked into the middle of the cake.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool totally.

7. You can eat while still a bit warm, or otherwise sliced when cold. It will last a few days safely in an airtight container. IF you don't eat it all at once...

And Boogie - This is so simple that if she burns it you can make her dump all HER old and cherished computer toys...

Apricot & Walnut Chutney

I have been making this chutney for several years now... It really is quite yummy, and different.

Apricot & Walnut Chutney

3 lbs fresh Apricots or 1 lb of dried Apricots
1 lb Onions (chopped)
1.5 pints Cider Vinegar
2 Garlic Cloves (chopped and crushed)
Zest of 2 oranges (just the orange outer surface, not the white pith)
1 lb demarera Sugar
8 oz Raisins
8 oz Walnuts
1.5 teaspoons Sea Salt
1 teaspoon English Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Allspice powder

1. If using dried apricots, put them in water overnight to swell, then drain and chop them up.

2. If using fresh apricots, halve them, remove the stone and chop them up roughly, but not too big.

3. Boil the chopped onions for a few minutes until just soft. Then drain them.

4. Put all the ingredients (apart from the walnuts) into a large preserving pan. Bring it to the boil.

5. Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer gently, stirring often. Simmer for about 1.5 hours, or until it is thick and jammy. Remove from the heat.

6. Add the walnuts (very roughly chopped) and stir them in.

7. Pour, whilst hot, into sterilised jars and seal straight away.

This will make about 6 lbs.