Toasted Pound Cake with Mascarpone

I tried one of Giada de Laurentiis' recipes this weekend, one in which I was in love with after seeing her "Power of Pesto" episode of Everyday Italian. I made a few edits to better match the availability of ingredients and our tastes. I removed the Amaretto liqeur from the list, as well as the almonds. Also, I sweetened the mascarpone cheese with Splenda. One cool thing about this dessert is that it is not as rich and heavy as it sounds. The pound cake comes out of the oven light and fluffy, and the lightly sweetened cheese is just the right touch of fanciness.

Ingredients
1 pound cake (10 3/4 ounce), cut crosswise into 12 slices
3/4 cup apricot preserves
2/3 cup mascarpone cheese
2 TBSP Splenda sweetener (subsitute regular sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pound cake slices on a large heavy baking sheet and toast in oven for 7 to 10 minutes until the slices turn golden brown. Alternatively, toast the pound cake slices in an electric toaster until golden.

Warm the apricot preserves for about 15 seconds in the microwave. In a bowl, mix the cheese and the splenda with a spoon. This takes some elbow grease, but it's worth the effort.

Place 1 cake slice atop each of 6 plates. Spoon the mascarpone cheese atop the cake slices. Arrange the remaining cake slices offset atop the bottom cake slices. Spoon the apricot mixture over.