Name: Chocolate, apricot and rum pound cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 360 gm caster sugar; 140 ml canola oil, plus extra, for greasing; 200 gm (11/3 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting; 85 gm cocoa; 2 tsp baking powder; 240 ml milk; 125 gm crème fraîche; 150 gm chopped glacé apricots (see note); 100 gm pistachio nuts; 50 ml golden rum; Brown-sugar frosting; 1 eggwhite; 40 gm dark brown sugar, plus extra to serve; 145 gm softened butter, diced

Chocolate, apricot and rum pound cake

It's not what you'd call a traditional pound cake. It calls for different quantities of flour, sugar, eggs and butter, but know this – it is delicious.

Serves 10

Prep

30M

Cook

50M

Total

1H 20M

Skip to Recipe

“This is not a typical, traditional pound cake of equal parts, but I’ve always called it a French pound cake,” says Alistair Wise of Hobart’s Sweet Envy. “I was shown this recipe by a Frenchman and it’s lived in my recipe file uner that name ever since.”

Ingredients

3 eggs

360 gm caster sugar

140 ml canola oil, plus extra, for greasing

200 gm (11/3 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

85 gm cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

240 ml milk

125 gm crème fraîche

150 gm chopped glacé apricots (see note)

100 gm pistachio nuts

50 ml golden rum

Brown-sugar frosting

1 eggwhite

40 gm dark brown sugar, plus extra to serve

145 gm softened butter, diced

Method

1.Preheat oven to 210°C and grease and flour a loaf pan (about 20cm x 10cm).

2.Add eggs, sugar and oil to a bowl and stir until smooth. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into egg mixture and mix until nearly combined and smooth. Stir in milk and crème fraîche, then add apricots, pistachios and rum, and stir to combine. Add mixture to the loaf pan and bake until a crust forms (7 minutes), then use a serrated knife to cut crust through the centre lengthways to expose liquid underneath. Reduce oven to 170°C and bake until a skewer inserted in the centre withdraws clean (40-50 minutes). Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then carefully turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

3.For brown-sugar frosting, whisk eggwhite and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water with hand-held electric beaters until doubled in size (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat, whisk in butter in a few additions to emulsify and add a pinch of salt. Spread frosting over cake while warm, top with extra brown sugar and serve.