Nigel Slater's Recipe for Apricots with French Toast and Pistachio Mascarpone

Put 100g of caster sugar in a deep saucepan with 500ml of water. Cut a small lemon in half and add it to the pan, then bring to the boil.

Add 500g of apricots to the pan, let the syrup return to the boil, then turn down the heat, partially cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes. The apricots are ready when they are tender and deep orange in color.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the fruit to cool. When very cold, split each apricot in half and remove the pits. Put the fruit back in the syrup and cool well in the fridge.

Whip 150g of double cream until thick, then stir in 200g of mascarpone and 3 tablespoons of crushed pistachios . Place a large spoonful of each in 4 soup plates, then add a few apricots to each.

For the toast, prepare 4 slices of bread – brioche or pain au lait if you like. have, but any good white bread will do. Melt a little butter in a shallow nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the butter has melted and begins to foam, place the bread in the pan and allow it to brown on the underside, then flip it over and continue cooking until golden brown.

Add 1 tablespoon of apricot cooking liqueur to each piece of toast and continue cooking for a minute or two, then remove from the pan and add a piece to each of the dishes and eat while the toast is warm and crispy. Enough for 4

The first Turkish apricots are now in stores. If they elude you, use preserves instead - they are one of the fruits that survive the canning process brilliantly. Sharpen their sweet syrup with a little lemon juice when reheating the fruit.

Dried apricots are a good option here too. Use the dried variety instead of the fresh. The cooking time will remain the same.

If you prefer, add chopped pistachios to vanilla ice cream or thick yogurt instead of cream and mascarpone.

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