Delicious Apricot Olive Oil Tea Cakes

A few days ago one of my favorite neighbors celebrated her 55th birthday. She’s a lovely lady and I love spending afternoons in her little oasis she has as a garden. By profession she is a florist and has often helped me making my little home design bouquets. She is sensational at what she does and has arranged the interior of her house so beautifully I often feel like I am on a mini-vacation when I am there.

She was having a little tea party and had invited several guests. I was very honored to be amongst her carefully picked guests. I was also the youngest. For weeks I had pondered on what I should take along to complement my main present. Flowers – well do you give flowers to a florist?

I finally decided the best thing to do was to give her a little something that came from me. A piece of me – in a matter of speaking. She knows about my hobby and is a passionate reader of this blog. Often telling me that although she enjoys my desserts and cakes the best, she loves this space because I tell such great stories and it’s almost like she is a part of the story.

She has done a lot for me and loves Soeren to bits. I have never actually seen her not smiling. I am sure she even smiles in her sleep.

My idea was to make a few delicate teacakes to show her my appreciation. I wanted it to be something a little different and a bit out of the ordinary, because that’s exactly how she is. She is full of life and vivacious, bringing a bit of sunshine with her where ever she goes. So how do I define all that in a teacake?

I was inspired by the olive oil pound cake from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. Although I have not gotten around to making it in its true form, the flavor of olive oil in a cake intrigued me immensely. I also was not looking for a muffin consistency with these cakes. Although I wanted to bake them in muffin forms to make eloquent individual portions, I wanted something more moist and spongy. I decided to use natural yogurt not only for the moister texture but also that slightly tangy flavor. Apricots gave the tea cakes that final touch of sweetness and epitomized the sunshine my neighbor is for me.

The result was delicious and elegant teacakes with such exquisite flavor that they quickly became the star of the afternoon!

I have used less sugar and of course the olive oil substitutes the butter. This makes the cakes lighter and fluffier in texture. The natural yogurt brings a slightly tangy note to the cake making it a delightful partner for the sweet apricots.

Ingredients
Printable version of recipe here.

200g all-purpose flour
2 eggs
80 ml olive oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
125g Demerara sugar
300 ml natural yogurt
200-300g fresh apricots, a few quartered the rest coarsely chopped
Pinch of salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Prepare the muffin tin or forms by brushing with some melted butter and flouring them. Alternatively you can line them with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, olive oil and yogurt into a smooth batter. In several portions incorporate the salt, flour and baking powder into the batter.

Gently fold in the chopped apricots, reserving the quarters for the tops.

Fill the forms with the fruit-batter. Place a quarter apricot on the top. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden or when a wooden toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake, comes out clean.

Notes:

• You can use a variety of stone fruit for these teacakes. Try plums, peaches or even other fruit like figs work extremely well.
• Serve these warm drizzled with some vanilla pudding for a lovely after meal dessert.
• If you like a crunchier texture add a few chopped nuts to the batter. Pecans or pistachios are just perfect.

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Verdict

My neighbor loved these teacakes, however I had a bit of a guilty conscience because of all the fuss they created with her guests. See I decided to serve them slightly warm with some thick vanilla sauce and they became addictive. Her guests were constantly asking her for her recipe and she kept sending them to me. I was kind of uncomfortable standing in the middle of the group explaining how I made these. But in the crowd I caught my neighbors eye standing at the back, who winked and smiled at me, lifting her plate to show me that she had managed to grab the last teacake. I love her nonchalance!

I wish you all a great weekend. If you are looking for something to cook this weekend I am sure you'll find several interesting ideas in my recipe book. Looking for something vegetarian? Then check out my latest article at FoodieView where I discuss Vegetarian Specialities and give a few great ideas from across the blogs.

See you Monday with the roundup for the Chocolate & Fruit Monthly Mingle.

You might like these exquisite cake ideas from WFLH:

	Bostini Cream Pie
	Cantuccini Plum Cakes
	Raspberry Hazelnut Teacake

From around the blogs:

Swedish Lingonberry Cake by Nami Nami
Orange & Poppyseed Cake by Couture Cupcakes
Blueberry Yogurt Cake by Ahaar

Daily Tiffin Reading Tip:

• Are you picky about what your kids eat? - by Dharm

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