I am completely in love with this dessert.
For years I have in vain chased the apricots of my childhood; intensely ripe, cooked by the provençal sun to a sweet compote in every bite. Nothing comes close, and so year after year I have spurned apricots on every shelf, sighed in resignation.
While I don’t expect to resuscitate these childhood memories here in London, I have found a recipe to reconcile my love of apricots.
The original is one for apricots with vanilla and chamomile. I was excited, when I received it from a friend through the unlikely channel of an email recipe exchange, as I had just planted lots of chamomile seeds. But not one of the seeds has grown; a few months later and I don’t have the slightest shadow of a chamomile flower. However I do own a small lemon verbena plant.
Apricots roasted in verbena honey syrup, adapted from a recipe by Allison Parker
12 apricots
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 cup water
3 small twigs fresh lemon verbena
3 Tbsps mild liquid honey (borage honey worked beautifully)
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Wash the apricots, slice them in half, remove the pits.
In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat, add the verbena and honey, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.
Pour the syrup into a pan which will fit all the apricots in one layer. Place the apricots in the syrup, cut side down, and spoon a little syrup over each hump of fruit.
Roast in the oven (rack in the upper third, so the apricots get blushed from the heat) for about 10 minutes. Turn the apricots over, baste with syrup, and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes, until soft.
Let cool and serve at room temperature, with a big dollop of clotted cream, crème fraîche, or thick yogurt.
Nettle and Quince 
16 July 2014 at 12:34 |
YUM…..I have long been a fan of great apricot preserves, but have NEVER had a fresh apricot that lived up to their reputation as a delicious fruit. I’ve probably just never tried a perfectly ripened one. LOVE this option for all of the less than perfect apricots I seem to find.
11 July 2014 at 20:31 |
So beautiful! I’ve got the verbena. But, sadly, the apricots are a problem. Nobody seems to grow them here and the grocery store ones are irredeemable.
11 July 2014 at 06:44 |
i completely understand when you talk about the apricots of your childhood. i grew up in pakistan and the apricots there were the colour of ruddy cheeks and smelt like blossoms. heat and sugar coax the flavour out of the ones in london. i make apricot and vanilla jam with them from a diana henry recipe which really transforms them into something special. http://comeconella.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-pleasure-of-jam-diana-henrys.html