These deliciously satisfying pecan squares are a fantastic solution if you’re looking for an interesting dessert for a dinner party or brunch. Â Use the best quality pecans you can get and keep a close eye while baking to avoid burning.
I also suggest you try my apricot and pecan cake. It makes a fantastic breakfast option!
This apricot and pecan cake is a dense butter cake that updates the classic fruitcake for modern times. Â As with most cakes containing fruit and/or nuts, be sure to coat the apricots and pecans with flour before adding them to the batter. Â This well help to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking. (Also try this chocolate and apricot wrap cake.)
Ingredients:
185g pecans, coarsely chopped
185g dried apricots, coarsely chopped
170g cake flour
110g butter, softened
200g granulated sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2tsp baking soda
185ml sour cream
Icing sugar for dusting
Glaze:
60ml dark rum
120ml orange juice
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Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
Grease and flour a 25cm x 15cm x 7cm loaf pan or line it with baking parchment. Set aside.
Combine nuts and apricots in a small bowl and toss them with 3 tablespoons of the flour, making sure to coat them well. Set aside.
In an electric mixer set on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light in colour.
Add vanilla extract and mix well.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure proper mixing.
Combine the flour and the baking soda. Add this mixture to the butter mixture gradually, at low speed, alternating with the sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Â Mix just until blended.
Stir in the nuts and apricots and blend well.
 Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
 Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
 Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack.
 In a small cup, mix together the rum and orange juice and pour evenly over the hot cake.
Cool the cake in its pan for 15 to 20 minutes and then remove from the pan and continue cooling on the wire rack until cool.
Remove and discard baking parchment.
 Dust with icing sugar, slice and serve. Freeze any leftovers.
Lately I’ve been trying to get away from standard chocolate and white cake varieties and getting more into fruit-based cakes, like this almond cake with orchard fruits. I guess I’m trying to fool myself into thinking they’re a bit healthier, which they are, albeit only slightly! This poached pineapple upside-down cake is one of the more difficult ones I’ve tried and I have to admit that my first attempt didn’t turn out very well. However, I gave it another try and it came out beautifully!  The poached pineapple offsets the brown sugar and pecans perfectly and its appearance is quite impressive too.
So arm yourself with patience and give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed with the result!
Ingredients:
For the poached pineapple:
5 fresh pineapple slices, poached and drained.
400g granulated sugar
200ml water
50ml strained orange juice
For the sponge:
200g granulated sugar
6tbsp hot milk
2 eggs, yolks separated from whites, whites stiffly beaten
125g flour, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract
8tbsp butter
200g brown sugar
65ml pecans, chopped into small pieces
5 maraschino cherries
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
To poach the pineapple, stir the sugar and water together in a deep, heavy saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Use a dampened pastry brush to wipe down any stray sugar crystals that stick to the sides of the pan. When the sugar has dissolved, bring the syrup to the boil. Add the pineapple slices and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Gradually add half of the granulated sugar and all the milk to the egg yolks, beating steadily.
Thoroughly mix in the rest of the granulated sugar, the flour and the vanilla extract.
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan (about 23cm in diameter) over medium heat.
Add the brown sugar and blend well.
Remove the frying pan from the heat and arrange the pineapple slices and pecans symmetrically on top of the butter and sugar mixture. Place one cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice.
Cover these ingredients with the batter and place the pan in the preheated oven.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Flip the cake out immediately onto a serving dish.
Until quite recently, I was thoroughly convinced that the idea of putting vegetables in desserts was completely and utterly insane. Â I just couldn’t get my head around the reasoning behind what seemed to me to be a ridiculous notion! Â Carrot cake?! Courgette loaf?! Madness!
In any case, my opinion has changed, and it all started when I tried this Spicy Pumpkin Cake at a friend’s dinner party.  It was absolutely scrumptious!