This is another great recipe from Mimi Sheraton’s great Christmas cookbook, “Visions of Sugarplums”.

I have made this bread (which is more like a blonde fruit cake) almost every year for 25 years.  I regularly double the recipe.  The cake is good sliced with marscapone cheese spread on it for a treat.

Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots

1/2-1 cup brandy (enough to cover the soaking fruit)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

1 egg, lightly beaten.

grated rind of 1 lemon

1/2 cup strained fresh squeezed orange juice

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking sode

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cups chopped walnuts

Instructions

Soak the whole apricots in the brandy for 2-3 hours.  I often cover the bowl tightly and let them soak overnight.  Then slice the plumped up apricots in six small pieces.  Reserve at least 1/4 cup of soaking brandy for the bread.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add egg and lemon rindand beat until mixture is smooth and well blended.  Add the 1/4 cup of reserved brandy and orange juice.  Mixture will look a little curdled.

Sift the flour with the leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda, salt) and slowly add sifted mixture to the batter, stirring well between additions.  I use the mixer on a slow speed.

Fold in the nuts and apricots without the mixer.  Place mixture in a buttered 8 inch loaf pan.  I often double the recipe and place it into 5 of the small loaf pans.  Mimi recommends lining the pan with buttered brown paper, but I skip this part and spray pan with Baker’s Secret.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Let the bread batter stand for 20 minutes in the pans before placing in the oven.   It will rise slightly. Bake the big loaf for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean and the bread is golden brown.  Take bread out while hot and let it cool before wrapping tightly in aluminum foil.  This cuts better if you rest the bread for 24 hours.

The bread is supposed to be made with all white sugar to be authentically Swedish, but I don’t make it that way.  Both are probably delicious.