Method

Preheat the oven to 175°C

Butter a 20cm diameter springform cake tin and paper the bottom of it.

Cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Stir in the flour, coconut and baking powder. Make sure they are mixed in well but don’t beat the mixture.

Pour into the caketin and arrange the apricot halves on top.

Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, cool, then remove from the tin.

Dust the top with icing sugar.

Vanilla Apricots ingredients

12 apricots, halved and stoned

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 cup water

1 vanilla pod, split down the middle lengthways

Vanilla Apricots method

Put everything into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the apricots are tender but not disintergrating. Remove from the heat and cool.

Serve the cake warm or cold, in wedges, with some of the apricots on the side and a dollop of mascarpone if desired.