Carnival of the Recipes #24 - Apricot slice

**UPDATE** Ok, apparently there was some confusion as to why this is called a slice. Another difference between the US and Australia. I spoke to an American friend of mine, and he said that slice in America literally means a slice of cake. Whereas here, a slice is a type of cake that doesn't rise as much, and tends to be rectangular in shape.

Here's the recipe for the apricot slice I made for Sunday brunch, as mentioned in earlier post. Hubby and I divided up the leftovers and took them into work today, apparently were enjoyed at hubby's work, so that's nice.

Ingredients

185g (1 1/2 cups) plain all-purpose flour
170g (3/4 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
60ml (1/4 cup) milk
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
180g (6 1/2 ounces) butter, softened
14 apricots, pitted and halved (this may vary depending on the size of the apricots. Also, if fresh apricots are out of season, you can use bottled or canned ones)
2 Tbsp caster (superfine) sugar, extra

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (315 F/Gas 2-3). Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Place the eggs, milk and vanilla in another bowl and mix to combine. Pour the egg mixture and butter into the well in the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly into a greased or non-stick 20 x 30cm (8 x 12 inch) lamington tin.

Push the apricot halves, cut side up, evenly into the cake mixture in four rows of seven.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, sprinkle over extra sugar and cook for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

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This recipe is from Bill Granger's book titled "bills open kitchen", (2003)
Like a lot of his recipes, it was straightforward to make, and yummy to eat!