I had a Best of the Best from the Midwest cookbook so when I saw the Best of the Best from Texas at a book sale I bought it.
The first recipe I made was for a Apricot Bundt Cake. I remember making several of this type of cake using a cake mix and turning them into bundt cakes. My pan was bought new when the fad for bundt cakes was so popular. However, I had not made this recipe with the apricot.
I did find that apricot nectar is not as easy to find as it was when this cookbook was published but did find a bottle in a HyVee store. The cake mix was easy to come by and on sale even. This is easy to make and moist. It does make a larger cake but freezes well. I sliced it and froze the slices so we could thaw just what we wanted to eat. If you do not want it as lemon tasting omit the lemon extract which is what I will do next time. Replace the 1 tablespoon extract with 1 tablespoon water.
Sue says this was a "go-to" entertaining cake for one of our Mom's aunts, when Sue was in college back in Texas, where our great-aunt lived in Houston.
I did find that apricot nectar is not as easy to find as it was when this cookbook was published but did find a bottle in a HyVee store. The cake mix was easy to come by and on sale even. This is easy to make and moist. It does make a larger cake but freezes well. I sliced it and froze the slices so we could thaw just what we wanted to eat. If you do not want it as lemon tasting omit the lemon extract which is what I will do next time. Replace the 1 tablespoon extract with 1 tablespoon water.
Sue says this was a "go-to" entertaining cake for one of our Mom's aunts, when Sue was in college back in Texas, where our great-aunt lived in Houston.
Apricot Bundt Cake
Cake:
1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup apricot nectar
1 box 2 layer size lemon supreme cake mix
4 eggs
¾ cup oil
1 tablespoon lemon extract
Place pudding into a small bowl with apricot nectar and let sit while mixing the rest of the ingredients. Combine the cake mix, eggs one at a time beating well after each egg, oil, lemon extract, and then add the pudding mixture. Beat well with mixer and pour batter into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and take out of pan immediately. Prick top with a toothpick or fork and spoon glaze over the cake.
Glaze:
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup apricot nectar
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Mix lemon juice, apricot nectar and powdered sugar until smooth.
Yields 24 slices
Sounds and looks very good!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very good, and looks moist. If you plan to freeze much of the cake in slices, as you mentioned, do you go ahead and ice the cake? Or do you "frost as you go", so to speak?
ReplyDeleteI will do a glaze before I freeze it as that needs to soak into the cake while it is still warm. A glaze that is meant to soak in as this is will not be the same as frosting a cake is. If I was going to frost the cake I would do it after it has thawed. Frosting will keep in the fridge for quite a while. Usually a Bundt cake like this is not frosted. Whipped cream and/or fruit makes it more festive.
DeleteThank you! You and Sue are good teachers!
Deletecake looks delicious
ReplyDeleteThinking about using apricot puree in place of the nectar
google and you will find many recipes on making and canning your own apricot nectar.
http://myfamilyprepared.blogspot.com/2013/06/canning-apricot-nectar-how-to.html
I would dilute that with some water maybe? You need to have the right amount of liquid the recipe calls for. Sure sounds good. Apricots are my favorite fruit but expensive up here in the upper midwest.
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