Ingredients
- Frangipane stuffed apricots
- These are delightful. You can serve them in a pie plate straight out of the oven or in chai glasses, shot glasses or little dessert bowls with dessert spoons or cocktail picks. You can top the final ensemble with apricot kernels too.
- Apricots can be sour so taste-test your batch before you cook them. If they are sour, choose to serve them with vanilla ice-cream or sweetened whipped cream and add more sugar to the poaching liquid.
- You can omit the frangipane entirely if you want an eggless dessert. Add star anise instead of cinnamon and poach them apricots in some sweet wine and water also.
- Ingredients (2 pieces per person)
- 18 fresh sweet apricots, washed
- ¾ cup almonds, powdered
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 tbsp maida or all purpose flour
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 7 tbsp butter plus 2 tbsp
- For poaching liquid
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 inch stick of cinnamon
- Optional accompaniments and garnishes:
- 1 cup strained yogurt whipped with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste and half cup granulated sugar until fluffy
- Sweetened whipped cream spiked with apricot liqueur
- Vanilla ice-cream
- Sweetened strained whipped yogurt or shreekhand
- Mint leaves, apricot kernels, candied orange or flaked almonds to garnish
Instructions
- Method
- 1. In a small saucepan combine cinnamon with sugar and water and set over a medium flame. When the volume is down to 1 cup switch off flame.
- 2. Butter a small baking dish (round or square about (6 by 6 inches) with 1/4 tablespoon of butter. Pour syrup into the dish. Discard cinnamon stick.
- 3. Using a sharp knife, splice open one side of each apricot, cut along the rib, leaving the bottom side intact. Remove the pits.
- 4. Pre-heat oven to 300 F.
- 5. Cream butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes in a stand mixer or using a whisk. Add vanilla and egg and continue to beat about 1 minute. Add zest and almonds until well incorporated.
- 6. Lightly butter each apricot using the leftover butter and a pastry brush. Spoon the frangipane into the spliced fruit generously.
- 7. Place the fruit in the baking dish with sugar syrup and bake in the middle rung of the oven 45-60 minutes until fruit is blistered and the almond custard is golden brown.
- 8. Serve warm with some of the browned sugar syrup with boozy cream (use Grand Marnier), strained vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice-cream.
© 2023 All content copyright: Tara Deshpande