Recipe

Chocolate, apricot and hazelnut cake

May 31, 1975 2:00pm
  • 2 hrs 30 mins cooking
  • Serves 12
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Ingredients

Chocolate, apricot and hazelnut cake
  • 1 2/3 cup (250g) dried apricots, chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) water
  • 250 gram (8 ounces) butter, softened
  • 2 cup (440g) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1/2 cup (75g) self-raising flour
  • 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
  • 1 cup (110g) ground hazelnuts
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk
  • 300 gram (9½ ounces) milk eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk
  • 1 cup (160g) icing (confectioners') sugar

Method

Chocolate, apricot and hazelnut cake
  • 1
    Combine apricots and water in small saucepan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until apricot is soft. Cool.
  • 2
    Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Grease deep 22cm (8-inch) round cake pan; line base with baking paper.
  • 3
    Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in apricot mixture, sifted flours and cocoa, ground hazelnuts and buttermilk. Spread mixture into pan.
  • 4
    Bake cake about 1¾ hours. Stand cake in pan 10 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.
  • 5
    Make chocolate buttermilk cream; stir chocolate and buttermilk in small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water until smooth; stir in sifted icing sugar. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until mixture is spreadable.
  • 6
    Split cold cake into three layers; sandwich layers with two-thirds of the chocolate buttermilk cream. Spread top of cake with remaining buttermilk cream. Top with dark chocolate curls. if you like.

Notes

To make chocolate curls, run a cheese slicer down the back of a slightly warmed block of chocolate. For smaller curls, run a vegetable peeler down the side of a block of chocolate.

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