When I was little, our extended family had a visiting day once a month, where everyone got together on a specific date and had coffee and dessert. It was the host/housewife’s turn to show off her baking skills and so, she would make a few desserts over a span of a day or two in preparation for the occasion and serve them  in beautiful dishes from her collection of fine china. Being a child, I never turned down dessert and actually behaved during the visit, per my mother’s request,  just so I could earn  my fair share of the goodies.  I didn’t know it then, but I totally appreciated cakes with dried fruits and when we moved to the United States, those recipes and the tradition all disappeared. Fast forward to a hundred years later (being today) I was actually, extremely overjoyed  when I came across here, a recipe similar to or perhaps even the same as the one  my mother and aunts used to follow for the best  dried fruit cake ever. Apricot, Almond …