Crusted, with feta and tomato, bourbon and lime… 17 delicious ways to savor apricot
The word apricot shares the same root as the word early - the fruit is so named because it ripens early, before plums, peaches and apples. In warmer climates than the UK, apricots may be ready for picking as early as May, but the UK season is starting now and is shaping up to be a bumper year, with an expected harvest of 250 tonnes.
Although the fruit has only been grown commercially in this country since 2005 - mainly in Kent - yields are already six times higher than they were ten years ago . What are we going to do with all those extra apricots? Here are 17 delicious ideas to help you soak up your quota.
You could just eat them, but apricots are still - whisper it - one of the most disappointing fruits in the summer. While a good one is undoubtedly great, not so good ones are common. They are often sold when unripe, and even ripe ones can be a little woolly.
But baking can save even the most disappointing apricot - a little applied heat does wonders. Apricots generally do not need to be peeled; just cut them in half, pit them, sprinkle them with a little sugar and put them under the broiler. Yotam Ottolenghi puts them on his barbecue and serves them with vanilla yoghurt cream and crushed ginger nut cookies. Anna Jones adds cardamom to whip up a quick dessert designed for apricots "before or after their best".
Nigel Slater sautéed the fruit in honey and butter to his sticky apricot and ginger cake, where he bakes them – halved, cut side down – confined in a crumble pan.
For the tarte tatin de Slater, made with apricots instead of apples, they go cut side down, with a whole almond placed in each hollow. Apricot Upside-Down Cake is a similar idea, but uses a sponge instead of batter for the top...
The word apricot shares the same root as the word early - the fruit is so named because it ripens early, before plums, peaches and apples. In warmer climates than the UK, apricots may be ready for picking as early as May, but the UK season is starting now and is shaping up to be a bumper year, with an expected harvest of 250 tonnes.
Although the fruit has only been grown commercially in this country since 2005 - mainly in Kent - yields are already six times higher than they were ten years ago . What are we going to do with all those extra apricots? Here are 17 delicious ideas to help you soak up your quota.
You could just eat them, but apricots are still - whisper it - one of the most disappointing fruits in the summer. While a good one is undoubtedly great, not so good ones are common. They are often sold when unripe, and even ripe ones can be a little woolly.
But baking can save even the most disappointing apricot - a little applied heat does wonders. Apricots generally do not need to be peeled; just cut them in half, pit them, sprinkle them with a little sugar and put them under the broiler. Yotam Ottolenghi puts them on his barbecue and serves them with vanilla yoghurt cream and crushed ginger nut cookies. Anna Jones adds cardamom to whip up a quick dessert designed for apricots "before or after their best".
Nigel Slater sautéed the fruit in honey and butter to his sticky apricot and ginger cake, where he bakes them – halved, cut side down – confined in a crumble pan.
For the tarte tatin de Slater, made with apricots instead of apples, they go cut side down, with a whole almond placed in each hollow. Apricot Upside-Down Cake is a similar idea, but uses a sponge instead of batter for the top...
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