Apricot and Blueberry Bundt cake: Baking with Summer Fruits

I wonder what's good about Summer? 

Its so hot in Texas right now that you feel as if your life is ebbing out of you due to the heat. Even the setting sun does not bring one any relief from the sultriness of the summer heat. The heat makes one feel tired and and sluggish all the time, making one want to stay cooped up within the realms of your air-conditioned comforts inside your house. Boy!! How much I envy all those guys who have a pool in their backyards to cool off anytime they want. How good it would be to come back from a run and jump right into the cool inviting waters? Wow!! Just the very thought of it is so comforting. Definitely on our agenda whenever we are on a lookout to rent our next house.

Though coming from India I shouldn't be complaining about the heat as supposedly I should have been used to this kind of climate having lived there and experienced a similar kind of climate all my life. Really summers in Delhi have a bad reputation and you do not even have fully air-conditioned houses as here in Houston and not to forget the long long power cuts!! But what we did have back there was the convenience of ordering groceries on your phone and having them delivered right onto your doorstep instead of venturing out in the heat and lugging it all back yourself. What a luxury that was!!

Then what does one have to look forward to in Summers? What I love about Summers are the summer fruits.The grocery stores are stocked up with every kind of wonderful fruits that I love. Peaches and plums, apricots, blueberries, raspberries, watermelons, strawberries are the top favorite amongst the other fruits available and are usually almost always stocked up in my house. These Summer fruits not only taste great eaten raw but I also love to use them for making icecreams, smoothies, sauces and cakes. See my recipe for blueberry muffins. 

In this recipe too, I have used fresh blueberries and apricots. It is a very easy recipe to put together and the end result is a superbly moist cake with a light crumb. The cake not only looks beautiful with the vibrant burst of violet colors from the fresh blueberries but tastes great too. The best part is that it is not overtly sweet and the tart lemon glaze beautifully complements the flavors adding a lovely zing to the taste. 

Definitely on my make again list.

Ingredients
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 cups whole wheat flour
11/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
11/3 cup buttermilk (I added 2 tsp vinegar to 1 cup milk instead)
6 Tbsp Canola oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups apricot, pitted and halved (Use tinned apricots is you like)
6 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup confectioners icing

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 12 cup bundt pan with a baking spray or lightly coat it with oil and sprinkle lightly with flour.

In a bowl combine the eggs and sugar. With an electric mixer whisk the eggs for a couple of minutes till light and frothy.

Add in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract and mix well.

Sieve together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and add in to the above mixture. Beat on medium speed for about a minute till combined well.

Gently fold in the apricots and blueberries,

Pour into the bundt pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool completely in the pan before inverting onto a serving platter.

In a small bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice.

Drizzle the cake with the glaze over the top of the cake.

Slice and serve.