Recipe - Silvia Colloca's Apricot and olive oil cake (torta all’olio e albicocche)

LOVED this delicious Apricot and olive oil cake (torta all’olio e albicocche) - a recipe by the beautiful Silvia Colloca. I used nectarines due to season therefore also switched the rind over to orange - it was just delicious!!!

For full recipe – even terrific video go to http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/apricot-and-olive-oil-cake-torta-all-olio-e-albicocche?cid=23255

Ingredients

·       170 g caster sugar

·       230 ml milk

·       finely grated zest of 1 lemon

·       1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

·       100 ml extra virgin olive oil

·       3 tsp mistrà or sambuca (optional; see Note)

·       2 eggs, lightly beaten

·       1⅓ cups (200 g) self-raising flour  

·       ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

·       7–8 apricots, cut in half

·       flaked almonds, for sprinkling

·       fresh ricotta and honey, to serve (optional)

Instructions

·       Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and flour a 21 cm square or 27 cm x 21 cm rectangular cake tin (or line it with baking paper).

·       Place the sugar, milk and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sugar has dissolved. Do not let the milk come to the boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla seeds, olive oil and liqueur (if using), then let the mixture cool for 5–10 minutes.

·       Add the beaten egg, flour and bicarbonate of soda and whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and arrange the apricot halves on top any way you like. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 30–35 minutes or until pale golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool at room temperature for 1 hour before cutting. Serve just as it is or with honey-drizzled ricotta.

Note

·       For an alcohol-free version, replace the liqueur with milk.

·       If using very small apricots, layer quarters on top of each other so that they won't completely sink into the batter as it cooks.

This recipe is from Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca on SBS ONE.