vanilla poached apricots with hazelnut sponge
Serves 8-10
Serves 8-10Ingredients
- 500ml water
- 500g caster sugar
- ½ vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out
- 12 apricots, halved and stone removed
- 8 eggs, separated
- 250g brown sugar
- 250g hazelnut meal
- 300ml cream
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Place the water and sugar into a medium saucepan and stir to dissolve sugar
- Add the vanilla bean and some of the seeds and bring to the boil
- Simmer for 5 minutes, add the apricots and continue to simmer until apricots are soft
- Allow to cool
- Brush the sides of an 18cm square or a 24cm round cake tin with melted butter and line the base with baking paper
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy
- Add the hazelnut meal and fold through
- Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff and fold into the hazelnut mixture
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake
- You may need to cover the top with alfoil half way to stop the top of the cake browning too much
- Allow to cool then remove from the tin
- Whip the cream with the remaining seeds from the vanilla bean until thick
- To serve, cu
