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Streusel
1/3C packed brown sugar (2.5oz/72g)
2 T granulated white sugar (1 oz/26 grams)
1 cup walnuts or pecans (I used pecans) (4 oz/113 g)
1 ½ t cinnamon½ cup flour (2 ¼ oz/65 g)
4 T softened unsalted butter (1/2 stick/2 oz/57 g)
½ tsp vanilla

Batter
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sour cream (5.5 oz/160 g)
1 ½ t vanilla
2 cups flour (7 oz/200 g)
1 cup granulated sugar (7 oz/200 g)
½ t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt

1 can apricot halves (or real fruit, or any fruit you feel like)

Prepare a 9 inch springform pan by lining the bottom with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit, and then greasing the rest. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 degrees C.

In a food processor pulse the sugars, nuts and cinnamon until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Remove ¾ cup to use as filling. To the remaining add the flour, butter and vanilla and pulse briefly to form a coarse, crumbly mixture for the topping.

In a bowl, lightly combine the yolks, vanilla and ¼ of the sour cream. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl (or your kitchenaid) combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. Add the butter and remaining sour cream.
Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients have been moistened and then increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 ½ min. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition and scraping the sides each time.

Remove from the mixer and use a spatula to fold the batter a few times, making sure that the very bottom and the sides all incorporate evenly. Reserve about 1/3 of the batter and scrape the rest into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface with a spatula—this is a thick cake batter and will require smoothing.

Sprinkle with the prepared streusel filling and then layer the fruit over that.
Dollop the rest of the batter into blobs over the apples slices and smooth it out with a spatula if you can, mine was too thick so I just left it in blobs which looks cooler anyway. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the cake.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Well my husband came home slightly intoxicated tonight. First question: Do we have any more pie? Me: haha no you ate it all last night. Hubby: (standing in front of fridge) I’m going to make sticky date pudding!! Me: (staring in disbelief) um, okay? Do you want me to make you something? Hubby: (guilty look) Yes please baby!!

Haha OK that is a slightly shortened version but he is really cute. And a huge fan of toothsome desserts with fruit. So we didn’t have very many dates, and I hugely improvised this recipe with amazing success

Pudding:
100g dried dates (pitted)
150g sultanas – you can vary the quantities of the sultanas/dates as long as they add up to 250g.
1 tsp baking soda
250ml/1 cup water

125g butter at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour

Coconut Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup coconut cream

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place dates, raisin and baking soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold through date mixture and flour until just combined.

Spoon mixture into casserole dish or cake pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Pierce holes in top with a skewer and then pour some of the syrup over the top.

To make the sauce: place sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan. Heat over medium heat until dissolved, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Once all the sugar is dissolved, stop stirring and heat until mixture turns golden brown. This will take about 8 minutes, but I looked away and mine burnt slightly.

Once it is brown, pour in coconut cream. It will bubble and sizzle like crazy but stir it anyway for about 3 minutes until all incorporated and thickened. Remove from heat and store leftovers in a jar in the fridge.