V is for Verykokkia or apricot in Greek.

Growing up we had two apricot trees, the Moorepark ripened between Christmas and New Year and this was always the time to preserve the unblemished fruit. Mum would sing and tell us stories of our family history to entertain us as our smaller hands gently pushed the halved fruit deep into the long jars.

The second tree ripened later and often had a blemished skin, but the flavour was even more intense and perfect for jamming or sun drying on old doors and trestles strewn across the lawn. It put a bit of a dampener on my brother’s cricket practise. At the end of the year there was still lots of dried fruit for Christmas treats like Apricot Balls, Apricot Nut Bars, Apricot Chocolate Fingers and Apricots in Gingersnap wraps.

There was always enough to share with neighbours and lots of ‘seconds’ to find a use for. Simple stewed fruit with cream after dinner was a staple in the summer, but in the winter the bounty stored in the pantry cupboard would be served up in apricot chicken, pies and apricot short cakes.

Short cakes were made with clean dripping or lard and were a tasty and economical dessert for a large family. They can be filled with any seasonal fruit.

Apricot Shortcake

Ingredients

1 cup dripping, melted but not hot

1 tablespoon vinegar, or lemon juice

3 cups SR flour, sifted

½ cup milk

2 beaten eggs

½ cup sugar

2 cups well drained stewed apricots.

Method

Preheat oven to 180C

Mix dripping, vinegar and milk, add to flour and sugar, then mix in beaten eggs.

Pat 2/3rds into a greased and floured pastry tin pushing up to form the sides quite thickly, don’t make the corners too thin. Add fruit to centre and pat the reserved 1/3 into a circle for the top. This is a very soft dough so fill and top quickly so the dough base doesn’t go soggy. Pierce the top to allow steam to escape.

Cook in preheated oven for 45-60min till golden. Let stand for 10 minutes, serve with cream or icecream.