Apricot Syrup Cake

Spring has finally sprung here in Bracknell, and across the town you can hear the lawns being mown and the barbeques being dusted off.

I particularly like making Greek food for alfresco eating, so tomorrow we are having moussaka with Greek salad followed by this almondy, orangey apricot syrup cake.

The recipe that follows is a never-fail wonder that has a sweet, fragrant moistness bestowed by the syrup.
This cake is not like anything you can buy in the shops. It is best made the day before you will eat it.

Ingredients
125g butter
220g caster sugar (I use golden for preference)
250ml natural yoghurt
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp orange zest
125g plain flour
125g fine semolina
2 tsp baking powder
60g ground almonds
80ml milk
1 tin apricots (I use Tesco Breakfast Apricots, 175g drained weight).

Syrup
220g caster sugar (golden again if you have it)
The juice of the orange you zested,made up to 250ml with water

Preheat your oven to 180C.
Either butter or spray with oil an 8-9 inch square loose-bottomed tin.

Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in your egg yolks one by one. Mix in the yoghurt and orange zest. Sift in the flour, baking powder and semolina, then add the almonds and milk.

In another bowl (and here you will be glad if you have a hand held electric mixer rather than an expensive KitchenAid, as you can work two bowls at once), whisk your egg whites to the soft peak stage.

Add a generous spoonful of your egg whites to the cake mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites with a metal spoon.

Tip your cake mixture into the tin, then add your apricots evenly across the cake, poking them down into the batter one by one. They will sink to the bottom as it cooks.

Put your cake tin onto a small baking sheet as it may leak slightly - this is quite a light mixture, the into the oven for 50 minutes to an hour. It is done when the centre is slightly springy to the touch, or when an inserted skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking you can get on with your syrup. Gently heat the sugar and orange water mixture together, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Then bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes. When your cake comes out of the oven, bring your syrup back up to the boil and (carefully!) pour it over your cake. Don't be alarmed when you have a small lake of syrup pooling over your cake, it will all be absorbed, and any that leaks through will be caught by the baking tray.

This cake goes marvellously well with Greek food, but is equally welcome with an afternoon cup of coffee.