Apricot Gateau

This week I tackled one of the longest recipes in The Best of Mrs Beeton's Afternoon Tea. Not only that, but I made the sponge fingers required for this bake from scratch as well. Just as well I had the whole of Saturday free to bake, and it was great to tick this monster off!

Although I have a packet of sponge fingers here, I actually used the sponge fingers I made myself that morning. Less standardised, and with slightly less rise, but the favour and texture are the same.

I began by hiding the flour and salt in our airing cupboard, and whisking the eggs with the sugar

Then, I melted the margarine and folded it in in turn with the flour (I retrieved it from our airing cupboard.)

When I began spooning into the tin, I thought I had too much mixture, so I split it - I shouldn't have. I also hadn't prepared the tin(s) correctly, I should have actually lined them. You can see where I turned the cake out that it stuck to the base. Also, the smaller cake baked too long and crisped up a bit too much. If I had put all the mixture into one tin and filled it to the top, it would have been a better bake.

Preparing the filling - tinned apricots with the reserved juice being used to make jelly. The recipe calls for lemon flavour, but I couldnt only find orange or strawberry, so I chose orange. I also trimmed the sponge fingers down to size (and gave the remaining sponge fingers to my brother-in-law).

Then it was time to start assembling. Apricot jam and jelly holds the fingers in place around the edge of the cake. It was a sticky job!

After leaving the cake and jellied fingers to chill, it was time to turn back the clock to the 70s. Whipped double cream, chopped apricots and the remaining orange jelly - the mixture was a pale yellow and giving me 70/80 vibes.

But it makes for a good presentation!

It tastes fresh and fruity, but with a creamy texture. The sponge at the bottom could be lighter (my fault for baking it as two, as opposed to one), but the sponge fingers are light and sweet. It's not too sweet overall either, and not as heavy as I expected from all that cream.

Apricot Gateau

butter or oil for greasing

75g plain flour

pinch of salt

50g margarine

3 eggs

75g caster sugar

2tbsp sherry

22-24 sponge fingers

1 540g can unsweetened apricot halves in natural juice

1 142g packet of lemon jelly (I used orange)

2 tbsp apricot jam

600ml double cream

25g caster sugar

Line (seriously, line the tin) and grease a 6in round cake tin. Set the oven to 180C/gas 4.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and put in a warm place. Melt the margarine in a saucepan without letting it get hot. Set aside.

Whisk the eggs lightly in a heatproof bowl. Add the sugar and place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Whisk for 10-15 minutes until thick. Take care the the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until at blood-heat. The melted margarine should be at the same temperature.

Sift half the flour over the eggs, then pour in half the melted margarine in a thin stream. Fold in gently. Repeat, using the remaining flour and fat. Spoon gently into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes. It should all fit in one tin.

Cool on a wire rack.

To assemble the gateau, place the sponge on a serving plate and sprinkle with the sherry (if using). Trim the sponge fingers to a length of 3 inches. The base of each sponge finger should be level so that it will stand straight. Drain the apricots, reserving 125ml juice.

Heat the reserved apricot juice, add the lemon (or orange) jelly and stir until disolved. Pour into a shallow bowl and leave to cool but not set. Heat the apricot jam in a saucepan.

Brush the sugar-free side of each trimmed sponge with apricot jam to a depth of 1 inch. Dip one long side of each finger into the liquid jelly and attach to the sponge cake. The fingers should touch one another, with the jam-coated sides facing inwards and the jelly sealing each to its neighbour. They should extend above the cake to form a shell. When all the sponge fingers are in place, tie a ribbon around the finished cake, if liked, to hole the fingers in place. Place in a cool place until set.

Reserve 6 apricot halves for decoration and chop the rest. Put the cream in a bowl and stir in the sugar (if using - I forgot to add sugar here), whip until just stiff. Stir the chopped apricots and the rest of the liquid jelly into the remaining cream. Chill until on the point of setting, then spoon on top of the cake, filling the cavity formed by the wall of sponge fingers.

Return the gateau to the refrigerator for 1 hour until set, then arrange the reserved apricot halves on top.