When I asked Roy what he wanted to make this week, he told me that he wanted to make an easy breakfast for Mothers Day. He knows that lots of his friends want to make breakfast for their Mum on Mothers Day, but they can't make pancakes, scones, muffins or bread on their own. So, Roy wanted to make something which could be made the day before Mothers Day, with the help of Dad, and just needed to be prepared and put on a breakfast tray the next day. I suggested we make an old fashioned fruit loaf, which reminded Roy he had a recipe for an Apricot Loaf he had wanted to try, out of one of his early 1900s household lore cookbooks (from Soverign Hill). Once we had tried the recipe out Roy declared it perfect, and wanted to share the recipe with all his friends. So this week Roy Creates Apricot Loaf.
You Will Need:
- 125 grams of dried apricots, chopped into small pieces. You can use clean scissors to do this, or buy prechopped apricots from the supermarket.
- 60 grams of chopped walnuts (your can buy walnut pieces already chopped up, from the supermarket, or chop your own. You can just break them into pieces with your fingers)
- 250 grams of self raising flour (approximately 2 cups)
- A pinch of salt
- 1 or 2 oranges
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 30 grams of butter
- 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla essence
Method:
- Grease and line a loaf tin
- Put the apricots into a bowl and cover them with cold water. Leave them to soak for 1 hour (this will make them plump and juicy again)
- Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt together, into a large mixing bowl. You want to use a bowl big enough to hold the whole of the mix.
- Preheat the oven to moderate (180 degrees)
- Juice the oranges until you have 1/4 cup of juice.
- Drain the apricots, keeping the liquid in a bowl and making sure to press out all the excess liquid.
- Use the water the apricots soaked in to make the orange juice up to 1/2 cup.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the egg with a whisk or a wooden spoon. Add the sugar and beat the egg and sugar until they look creamy.
- Melt the butter (you can use the microwave, but only do it in short spurts - you don't want to burn it) and slowly add it to the egg and butter mix, beating as you go.
- Add the vanilla to the eggs, sugar and butter and mix.
- Add the apricots and nuts and mix them in very thoroughly.
- Turn the mix of eggs, sugar, butter, apricots and nuts into the flour and mix it together.
- Add the orange juice and apricot water, a little at a time, using this to bind the mix together. You may not need all the orange juice, you just want enough to make a cake batter.
- Bake for 1 hour or until the loaf is golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Leave the loaf to cool for ten minutes in the tin before turning it onto a wire rack
- Cool the loaf completely on a wire rack and put the loaf into an airtight container.
- DO NOT CUT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. This loaf needs time to sit and mature, it will crumble if you cut it immediately.
How To Prepare Mothers Day Breakfast, The Old Fashioned Way:
- Ask Dad to help you prepare a tray.
- Cover the tray with a napkin or cloth.
- Put a little vase with a few flowers in it on the tray.
- Wrap a spoon and a fork in a napkin and add this to the tray.
- Add a plate of sliced fruit and a glass of juice
- Cut one or two slices of the loaf and spread them with butter or margarine and put them on a nice plate.
- Finish the tray with a cup of tea or coffee, whichever Mum prefers. Now, ask Dad to help you carry this in to Mum in bed!