Apricot & Cheese Cake

One of the great advantages of living in Paris is that in the Summer there is a glut of nationally produced fruits that don't grow in Ireland. While Spanish apricots had been on the scene for some weeks (albeit a little green and bitter), last weekend was the first time I noticed French apricots fresh from provence. On promo at €3-80/Kg I could not resist. However sometimes there are good reasons for special offers and this was no exception the fruit was very ripe and was not going to last for more that 2 days.

First I though about an apricot tart with a frangipane creme but then realised I had no pastry left in the freezer and it was too hot a day to be fiddling around wit making and rolling out pastry.

Thankfully I stumbled a apricot & cheese cake recipe. The first time I made this cake I followed the original instructions to the letter, the quantity of apricots seemed to be overstated and the cooking time understated!

The result is a moist cake with a texture similar to the french flan. The apricots caramelise on top releasing a natural juicy sweetness, for a taste of provence!

You will need:

400G of apricots

3 eggs

150 fromage frais (if you cannot find this you can use a mix of cottage cheese & plain yoghurt but blend until smooth)

150 caster sugar

140g butter

150g plain flour

1 vanilla pod (from Madagascar if possible)

1 table spoon of icing sugar

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 180°

2. melt butter in a small saucepan

3. split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds into a mixing bowl, add eggs & sugar and whisk until light and fluffy

4. whisking all of the time add the melted butter (retaining a little butter to grease the cake tin/casserole dish), fromage frais, and lastly the flour

5. wash & drop the apricots, destone and cut in half

6.grease a shallow rectangular cake tin (or a suitable pyrex casserole dish) and pour in the cake mixture

7. place the apricots on top of the mixture and using a sieve sprinkle over with the icing sugar and cook in oven for around 50 minutes

8. the cake is cooked when a sharp knife comes out clean, leave to cool well, before eating