Vanilla and Apricot Minicakes

This cake has been on my to-bake-list forever :-) I've looked at this recipe every Christmas ever since I have the book it's in. Time to give it a try this year. I'd say: Worth it. I like the slightly sour apricots together with the taste of vanilla and the smooth consistency of the cake. Like many cakes, it even tastes better after a day or so.

Recipe
(From: Betty Bossi - Backen in der Weihnachtszeit)

200g dried apricots, cut into little pieces
3 tablespoons orange liquor (I used orange juice)
150g butter, soft
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
250g curd cheese
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
300g flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Mix the apricot pieces and the liquor/orange juice in a small bowl and let soak for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile beat butter in a bowl. Then add sugar an salt. Add one egg after the other until you got a pale and smooth batter. Add curd cheese and vanilla seeds. Then add the apricot pieces with the juice and mix well.

If you decide to bake one big cake, fill the batter into your prepared 30cm cake tin and bake for about an hour. If you use the small minicake papermoulds, fill the batter into 12 of these and bake for about 30 minutes.