Apricot Placek

This is a variation on Prune placek (flat cake) which I posted recently, this time using dried apricots instead of prunes.

There is a base of short crust type pastry, a layer of softened apricots and a cake topping which contains oats and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

Base

• 175g plain flour
• 125g butter
• 50g caster sugar

Filling

• 225g soft dried apricots
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour

Topping

• 125g butter
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 125g soft dried apricots
• 125g self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 125g rolled oats
• 50g sesame seeds

Method – Base

• Grease and line a rectangular 20 x 27cm tin.
• Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C
• Rub the butter into the flour to made breadcrumbs.
• Mix in the caster sugar.
• Bring the mixture together to make a dough.
• Press the dough into the tin.

• Bake the base for around 25 minutes until it is golden on top.
• Leave till it is cold.

Filling

• Chop the apricots into small pieces.
• Put the apricot and sugar into a small pan and cover them with water
• Simmer the apricots, sugar and water  for 10 minutes until you have a soft pulp – take care not to boil the mixture dry – add more water if needed.
• Mix the cornflour with some water to form a paste and add this to the mixture and stir until it thickens.
• Remove from the heat and leave it till it is cooled completely.

Spread the filling on top of the pastry base.

Topping

• In a pan gently melt the butter, sugar and honey.
• Leave to cool slightly.
• Chop the 125g of apricots into small pieces.
• Add the apricots to the butter mixture and mix .
• In a bowl mix the flour, bi-carbonate of soda, oats and sesame seeds.
• Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well in.
• Spread this mixture over the apricot filling.
• Sprinkle the reserved sesame seeds over the top.
• Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the top is golden.
• Cut into squares or rectangles to serve.

Tea plates are Bramble Rose by Duchess from the 1960s.