Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 165g butter
- 165g sugar
- Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
- 3 eggs
- 285g flour
- 40g ground pistachios or almonds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 fresh apricots, peeled and halved (or 12 canned apricot halves)
- 1 pack gelatin (or agar flakes)
- German vanilla pudding:
- 100g caster sugar
- 90g cornflour
- 1tsp vanilla paste
- 1 litre whole milk
Directions
-
pudding:
-
Prepare 3 medium sized bowls by running them under cold water and setting them to one side making sure they’re still slightly wet inside.
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From the 1 litre of milk, place 12 tablespoons in a bowl. Add the rest of the milk to a deep pan and bring to the boil over a medium to high heat.
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In the meantime, mix the 12 tablespoons of milk with the sugar, cornflour and vanilla until a smooth, runny paste forms. If there are any clumps, keep mixing, and they should dissolve.
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Once the milk in the pan starts to bubble, remove from the heat, and whisk in the vanilla paste mixture. It should thicken immediately.
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Place pan back onto the heat and keep whisking. Allow to bubble for 1 minute then remove from heat and pour into the cold bowls set aside earlier (don’t forget to lick the pan clean!). Allow to cool at room temperature first before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
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cake:
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Preheat the oven to 175˚C. Grease a baking tray (roughly 30cm x 40cm).
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Whisk the butter until light and creamy. Mix the vanilla seeds into the sugar, add to the butter and whisk further until smooth. Mix in the eggs one by one until completely incorporated.
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Mix the flour with the baking powder and nuts, add to mixture and fold under, making sure not to over mix (over mixing flour into batter results in dry cakes).
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Pour into greased baking tray, place in oven and bake for roughly 30 minutes or until the cake bounces back when pressed lightly. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the baking tray.
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Make the vanilla pudding cream, pour over the cooled cake. Top with apricot halves. Refrigerate. Once the pudding has cooled and set, prepare gelatin or agar flakes according to packet instructions, adding sugar to taste. Brush over the apricots with a kitchen brush. Refrigerate again until set.