Apricot & Cherry Steamed Cake

This delightful apricot & cherry steamed cake is steamed in a mould & comes out surprisingly light to slice. The cake looks elegant & colorful with the candied cherries along with the apricots. You will definitely feel very proud to serve this unique dessert at a party & make your guests feel very special. You can make this with any fruits or dry fruits of your choice. You can even surprise your family to celebrate any festive occasion or any special celebration. I’m sure you will enjoy this lovely dessert as much as we do… 😀

Ingredients :

1 can Apricot Halves
50 gms Candied Cherries (chopped)
21/4 cups Maida (sifted)
3 tsps. Baking Powder
1 tsp. freshly ground Green Cardamom
¼ cup unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar or as per your taste & preference
2 Eggs
¾ cup Milk
½ tsp. Lemon Extract or ½ tsp. Lime Juice
Salt to taste

Procedure :
Grease an 8 cup pudding mould; sprinkle lightly with sugar; tap out any excess.

Drain apricots; set aside 6 or 3 perfect halves for the topping.

Cut up enough apricots to make ½ cup to be mixed with the batter later. Save rest of the fruit & syrup for the sauce.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt. Add in cardamom powder & mix the dry ingredients well.

In a sufficiently large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light & fluffy & then beat in eggs.

Sift in dry ingredients, a third at a time, alternate with milk, stirring until well blended.

Stir in lemon extract or lime juice, chopped cherries & ½ cup chopped apricots which you cut up earlier.

Pour into prepared mould, cover with lid or foil & steam in a steamer for about 2 hours or until a knitting needle/metal skewer/long bamboo skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. (Keep water bubbling during cooking, adding more boiling water, if needed).

Cool in the mould on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

Loosen around the edge with a knife; invert onto a serving plate.

Arrange 6 or 3 saved apricot halves on top; spoon ½ cup hot apricot sauce over the top of the steamed pudding/cake.

Cut in wedges to serve with remaining sauce.

Tip : This is a sweet pudding/cake, so please adjust sugar according to taste.