When I was a child, apricots were not my favourite fruit. The soft ones with sweet flesh and fluffy skin were at the end of my list of fruit to eat. I definitely preferred juicy nectarines, peaches and plums. Today I appreciate the uniqueness of apricots, and I use them in my kitchen both as fresh fruit and as conserves and ingredients of desserts and meat dishes.

Arboriculture of apricot trees isn't easy. They are fickle, tough and unpredictable. The trees sometimes bear fruit every year, but sometimes for no specific reason they have a yearly break. They are sensitive to frost and cool wind, which destroys their beautiful scented flowers. They don't like a lot of different things like drought, excess moisture and fertilizers.

It is said that apricots allow us to live longer. Their nutritional value was appreciated by the Chinese. This fruit was a permanent ingredient of their diet. Apricots are a rich source of antioxidants, which delay the human aging processes. Oil from apricot seeds is used for creams, masks, tonics and milk – especially for oily and acne-prone skin.

Today I used some apricots to prepare a fluffy cake that is excellent for a weekend cream tea or a school packed lunch.

Ingredients:
12 apricots
100g of almonds
200g of flour
10g of baking powder
300g of 30% sweet cream
150g of sugar
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
caster sugar

Heat the oven up to 200C. Cover a cake tin (24cm) with some baking paper.
Clean the apricots, cut them in half and remove the stones. Finely grind the almonds and mix them with the flour and baking powder. Whisk the cream with the sugar and salt. Add the eggs one by one, stirring constantly. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in. Pour the dough into the cake tin, smooth it and arrange the apricot halves on the top. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the caster sugar.

Enjoy your meal!