Every Christmas my mother-in-law Caroline made a variant of this which we all called "Apricot Rib". I have since taken over on it and with the help of my nutritionist sister-in-law recreated the filling which none of us was smart enough to watch being made. It contains dried apricots, water, sugar, maraschino cherries with liquid, all simmered until the apricots are tender and boiled down enough to mash or blend into a spreadable filling. Caroline always drizzled frosting and made a nice flower of cut-up red and green maraschino cherries, so hers always looked as nice as they tasted. It is pretty easy to make once one gets over the idea that it looks hard, but I hope it is OK to let the eaters go on thinking it must have been hard! Of course it is OK to let everyone think it is hard. You can just smile and collect the admiration. JMD @KAF

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