Hot from the Oven- Apricot Cake

This is a departure from my usual posts- I’m posting a very good recipe for apricot cake that’s perfect for tea-time instead of talking in my angst-ridden way. Food in general cheers me up, especially desserts. I haven’t baked in long, but today I was totally in the mood. The usual favorites are all chocolate based but I was bored of baking brownies (which are very tasty nevertheless) so I tried my hand at apricot cake.This was the result.
Ingredients:
 1 ½ cups flour
 ½ cup caster sugar
 125 gms dried apricot, chopped
 ½ cup hot water
 1 tsp baking soda
 2 eggs, beaten lightly
 125 gms butter, softened
 1 tsp vanilla essence
 1 tsp cinnamon powdered
 1 small scoop of strawberry/ raspberry jam; caster sugar for garnish
Procedure:
 First, soak the apricots (dried and chopped) in the half cup of hot water and soak for about half an hour. Set aside.
 Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beaten eggs to this mixture. Beat again till uniform.
 Preheat the oven for 15 mins at 150 degree Celsius in the meantime, to get it ready for the actual baking.
 Sift the flour with cinnamon and baking soda. Add to the mixture. Blend till the mixture is consistently thick and yellowish-white in color. (You could add some milk if you think the batter is too thick and unyielding)
 Grease tin
 Spoon half the batter into the greased tin. Spread the soaked apricot over this and spoon the remaining batter over the apricots.
 Place the tin in the preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius and bake for 35-45 mins or until baked. To test if the cake is ready, you could put a knife through its centre and if it comes out clean you’re good to go.
 Take out the hot cake and invert.
 Dust with caster sugar and garnish with strawberry jam.
This cake is best served hot, when the apricots are soft and juicy from baking. The sweet smell is also better retained if served immediately. Sip your coffee, read a nice novel and enjoy this easy to make tea-time snack on the side.