Recipe: Velvety Apricot Cake with Boiled Icing

VELVETY APRICOT CAKE

apricots, pitted, halved
2 3/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apricot juice
1/3 cup apricot pulp
1 tsp vanilla

Stew apricots as for table use to make 1/3 cup pulp, drain and put fruit through sieve.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Cream shortening, add sugar gradually, beating thoroughly. Add yolks one at a time, beating well.

Combine water, apricot juice and pulp, and vanilla. Add alternately with dry ingredients to creamed sugar mixture.

Fold in stiffly beaten whites.

Bake either in greased loaf pan at 350 F or greased layer cake pans at 375 F.

Frost with boiled icing.

BOILED ICING:
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp cold water
1 egg white, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Add the water to the sugar and boil until the syrup spins a thread.

Pour the hot syrup very slowly into the beaten white of egg, whipping constantly.

Flavor with vanilla and spread the icing on the cake.

FOR CHOCOLATE ICING:
Add 2 Tbsp grated chocolate to the warm icing.

TO TINT ICING:
Lemon juice will whiten icing.
The grated rind of an orange will give a yellow color.
Strawberry, raspberry or cranberry juice will give a pink shade.