Mrs Pocock’s Flourless Apricot Cake
Apricots cannot be grown without warm sunshine, so here in the UK we either have to rely on Mediterranean countries for supplies — often picked unripe and tasting of nothing very much — or we can use dried apricots and they work really well in this old fashioned family recipe. The cake is quite dense but the apricots make it special and it keeps well for a few days.
Grate the zest from the lemon and squeeze the juice. Place the apricots,
cinnamon stick, lemon zest and juice and 1/4 pt (150ml)water in a small
saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat for about 20 minutes,
watching carefully to make sure the mixture doesn’t catch, until the apricots are
tender and absorbed most of the liquid. Remove the cinnamon and puree the
apricots and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 320°F (170°C) fan. Butter a 8" (20cm) loose-bottom cake tin
3 1/2" (9cm) deep. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then fold in the ground
almonds, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and the apricot puree.Transfer the mixture
to the prepared tin. Bake for 40-50 minutes until deep gold on top. A skewer
inserted should come out with a few moist crumbs. Leave to cool.
Cover the top with sour cream or mascarpone and decorate with flaked, toasted
almonds.
Theo Hodges
Theo Hodges was born in Kent. After a degree in Graphic Design she joined J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency as an Art Director working on accounts such as Rowntrees, Kraft and The Butter Council. While she was at University in Perugia, Italy she started collecting recipes from friends and family. In 1980 she set up her own design agency: Theo Hodges Design Consultants. For many years when they were young Theo, her sister and six cousins used to spend vacations at her Grandmother’s Victorian vicarage in Kent. ‘The thing about remembering childhood’ she says, is ‘there’s a whole lot of oblivion, and then out of it something floats up, quite sharp and clear. Many of the meals I can still see vividly and various recipes of mine were originally from Granny’s kitchen. ‘The kitchen garden was stuffed with raspberries, huge red dessert gooseberries, strawberries, runner beans, peas and much more with the hens in a shed at the back. But Granny only ate chicken breast and runner beans, followed by raspberries and Jersey cream - and therefore so did we. When raspberries were out of season, and in those days the season was much shorter, Granny made Victoria sponge cakes sandwiched with cream and home-made raspberry jam. On this limited but delicious diet we all thrived’. Theo’s mother was an excellent cook as well, and had been taught by the house- keeper at their house in Mougins, South of France. And once rationing was withdrawn in England in 1952 and good, fresh ingredients became available again, she amassed an enormous number of recipes which has formed the basis for Theo’s collection of family desserts.