Chocolate Apricot Cake

It was Mom's birthday this past weekend and of course I baked her a cake. Not just any 'ol cake, but a cake reminiscent of her birth place. Mom was born in Northern Italy, close to Austria. There is a famous cake called the "Sachertorte" that is a specialty in this region. It is a velvety rich chocolate cake with a thin apricot filling and covered in a chocolate ganache.

The original cake was created in Vienna, Austria and the only other place in the world that offers the original cake besides Vienna and Salzberg, is in Bolzano, Italy which is located in northern Italy. The cake I made is VERY loosely based on this idea. The original sachertorte is much more dense and I used a much thicker apricot filling. I also opted for a creamy chocolate frosting that my mom has been making for years. I found a great chocolate cake recipe on Epicurious.com. It turned out very moist and delicious!

Chocolate Apricot Cake
Cake adapted from Bon Appetit-June 2010 by Cindy Mushet

Ingredients

Cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk*
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

* If you do not have buttermilk on hand, substitute 3/4 cup minus 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Mix together and let stand 5-10 minutes. I used lactose-free milk and it turned out great!

Special equipment: 2 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides

Apricot Filling
14 oz. apricot jam
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2-3 fresh apricots, peeled, pitted and sliced (optional)

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For Cake:

Position rack to middle of oven; preheat to 350°F. Coat two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper rounds; spray rounds.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl; add sugar and whisk to blend. Form a well in the center. Whisk 1 cup water, buttermilk, oil, and eggs in medium bowl to blend. Pour wet ingredients into well in dry ingredients; beat with hand mixer just to blend. Divide cake batter between prepared pans (about 3 cups each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes, turning pans halfway through baking. A great tip from Cindy Mushet: (If cakes form domes, place kitchen towel atop hot cakes, then press gently with palm of hand to level.) Cool completely in pans on cooling racks. Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover cakes in pans and let stand at room temperature.

For Filling:

Line a 9 inch cake pan with plastic wrap, overlapping on all sides. Add the sliced apricots if using. Set aside.

Add the apricot jam to a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 1 minute or until the jam starts to bubble. Add the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Pour jam mixture into prepared pan and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.

Place 1 layer of cake, flat side down, inside the cake pan containing the filling. Carefully place a plate over the top of the cake pan; gently and quickly flip over so that the cake and the filling is centered on the plate. Remove plastic wrap. With a knife, carefully trim the edges of the filling that overhang the cake. Place the second cake layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate as desired.

For Frosting:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, until creamy and spreadable. Adding small amounts of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Annie's Peanut Butter Power Bars

Jump-start your day with one of these delicious bars

They are packed with protein from the peanut butter, antioxidants from the berries, B vitamins from whole wheat flour and wheat germ, and heart healthy fats from the walnuts. Although there is a fair amount of butter used in this recipe, I replaced half of the saturated fat in a typical bar with a healthier fat ~ canola oil. So you still get all that buttery flavor with a lot less fat!

The inspriration for these bars came from one of my favorite desserts that my mom makes; her Apricot Bars. They are buttery, crunchy and fruity all in one. In one word they are heavenly.
The only thing is that I end up eating way to many of them whenever she makes a batch. I think I devoured 3/4 of them in one sitting once. NOT GOOD -( 'Er well they were good, but not good for me.) I shutter to think of the calories and saturated fat that I inhaled on that fine day.

So I decided to make a healthy alternative to my Mom's bars. I can't say that they are better than my Mom's recipe, but they certainly were delicious; and healthy too. I could have gone with tub margarine in place of butter, but I think one of the best things about these bars are the buttery taste. As I said above, I did reduce the butter by half and replaced it with canola oil. I am a firm believer in all good things in moderation. (Except of course when Mom puts a plate of those Apricot Bars in front of me!)

Starting with great ingredients is the first step...

Press half of the dough into a parchment or foiled lined bake sheet and then load on the filling!

To make putting on the top layer of dough easier, roll it out in between 2 sheets of waxed paper.

Lift off the top sheet, turn over, place on top of the filling and remove the 2nd sheet of waxed paper.

When the bars are light golden brown, remove from the oven and let cool. Grab the edges of the parchment paper and lift the bars out of the pan. Cut in half and then into equal size bars.

Annie's Peanut Butter Power Bars
by Mixed Salad Annie

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. either almond or vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup of your favorite preserves (I used Apricot, but often use Raspberry as well)
1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter
1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruit (such as Sunsweet Antioxident Blend)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In an electric mixer or large mixing bowl blend together the butter, sugars and oil until creamy.
Add the egg and extract and blend until well combined. Add the wheat germ. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the butter mixture slowly until just combined. Gently mix in the walnuts. Reserve half of the mixture (about 1 1/2 cups) and set aside.

Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 8 1/2 x 12 inch (or 9 x 11) baking pan lined with parchment paper or foil. Spread 1/2 of the peanut butter over the mixture evenly. Dot the preserves all over, staying within 1/2 inch from edge. Sprinkle the dried fruit evenly over the top. Dot the remaining peanut butter evenly over the top.

Place reserved mixture between two sheet of waxed paper. Roll the mixture to the size of the pan. Remove the top piece of waxed paper, carefully flip it and place on top of the prepared mixture in the pan. Remove the remaining waxed paper.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely. Grab the edges of the parchment paper and lift the bars out of the pan. Cut in half and then into equal size bars.

Apricot-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

A Classic with a Twist...

When ever you are unsure of what type of cookie to make for a party or to give to someone for a gift, stick with the classics. The thumb print cookie is surely that. They are pretty easy to make and everyone seems to love them. You can fill it with any jam or preserves you like, but apricot and raspberry are tried and true.
I added a surprise element to these cookies by drizzling them with chocolate. I love the way chocolate and apricots or even raspberry taste together. It also dresses them up a bit for the holidays! But you could omit it or even use white chocolate if you want.

Even though my blog is usually healthy versions of classic recipes, this one was a little hard to change without altering the flavor. So I kept half the butter and used a healthier (non-hydrogenated) margarine to replace the other 1/2 cup of butter. So I did replace some of the saturated fat. Oh well, it's the holidays, not every recipe can be healthy. So just eat in moderation! I'll try, but no promises ;)

Apricot-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup tub margarine (such as smart balance), softened
3 /4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or almond extract)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup apricot jam/preserves (or raspberry)
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Beat butter, margarine and sugar on medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy and fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla; beat well.

Add combined flour and salt to butter mixture and beat until just blended. Lightly beat egg whites in a small bowl. Set aside. Put chopped walnuts in another small bowl.

Form rounded teaspoons of dough into balls; dipping each ball in beaten egg white, then roll in the chopped walnuts. Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets. Press thumb or the back of a 1/2 teaspoon gently into center of each ball, to make an indention; fill each cookie with about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon preserves.

Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Let cookies cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets before moving to wire racks to cool completely.

With a spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cooled cookies. Let dry and store in airtight container.