The cultivated apricot has about the shortest seasons of any fruit. For a few weeks during June and July, fresh apricots appear in the markets, often maddeningly firm or excessively soft and squashy. At their prime, apricots are delightful to eat. In summer I would recommend enjoying them as they are. For the rest of the year, the intensified flavor of jams, preserves or the dried fruit is always on hand to enhance pastry, mousses and bavarians.
The pastry heritage of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is heavily flavored with apricot. Preserves sparkle in the renowned Sachertorte or fill Palacinka pancakes. Apricot butter or “Lekvar” enriches pastries and kuchen.
Strained apricot preserves glisten on French Fruit tartes or fill petits fours. Apricot mingles with the buttery layers of Danish pastries.
Several Varieties
Dried apricots can be obtained in several varieties. The standard Del Monte-type supermarket package is the least desirable of these. An acrid aftertaste is fairly pronounced and detracts from the sweetness. It will diminish somewhat if the fruit is cooked with a liqueur.
Dried Turkish apricots, usually available in Health Food stores, are infinitely more delicate and fresh-tasting. Australian apricots, giant candied confections, are suitable as they are or cut into fancy shapes to decorate desserts.
Simmered dried apricots, easily rendered into a puree upon which to base a mousse, Bavarian cream, chiffon pie or sherbet, provides a roster of elegant desserts. A layer of apricot puree can be hidden beneath the streusel crumbs atop a coffee cake.
In mid-winter, a delightfully refreshing apricot sherbet offers a bright finale to a hearty dinner.
Brandied Apricot Sherbet
1 cup dried apricots
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 cups orange juice
2 Tbs. cognac
2 egg whites
Slowly simmer apricots in 1-1/2 cups water until the apricots are very soft and most of the water has evaporated (about 20 minutes). Watch them carefully so they do not burn. Force apricots through a sieve to puree.
Boil sugar with remaining 1-1/2 cups water for about eight minutes, until a candy thermometer registers 215-218 degrees, just under the jelly stage. Mix this sugar syrup with apricot puree. Add orange juice and stir in cognac.
Pour mixture into a bread pan or freezer tray (at least six-cup capacity) and freeze one hour or longer, until mixture has begun to firm around the edges but is still mushy in the center. Stir mixture thoroughly.
Return to freezer and freeze until fairly firm, stirring every 40 minutes or so. The more you stir, the better the texture will be. When sherbet is firm, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold carefully but thoroughly into sherbet. Freeze at least one hour longer before serving.
Makes 1-1/4 quarts, serving 10-12. For more convenient storage, finished sherbet may be transferred to a plastic container.
