Apricots

Fresh Apricots

 

My first taste of Apricots as a child was dried Apricots.  My mom would often buy them through a food co-op. We didn’t have them all the time, so they became a special treat.  I loved them.  Secretly I would pick through the bag, selecting the softer, slightly plump ones that gave way to a bit of a squeeze between my fingers. This meant that they were not too chewy and often times a little sweeter than the others.  I remember getting a cake from a church fair one time that had bits of Apricot in it.  It was so delicious and it was the first time it occurred to me that you could put the Apricots in things.  I was in college, I think, the first time I ate a fresh Apricot and a new love was born. 

The Apricot is another popular fruit here in France.  Almost every patisserie has a Tarte au abricot.  Laduree is now making a mini tart with Apricot and Pistachio, another flavor combination I like.  I also tasted an Apricot Pistachio macaron from Dallyaou when I visited in April and it was amazing.  Last summer I bought a few fresh Apricots from my favorite fruit stand on the rue de Commerce and used them to make my own Apricot tart with browned butter filling.

Praline bar: Chocolate with Hazelnut paste

The other day while buying groceries, Apricots were on sale, but I had to buy a 1 kg carton.  Pas du problem, I would just have to make a dessert.  At home I had a nice Praline Chocolate bar I had bought previously and I had been wanting to make a Hazelnut Dacqouise, inspired by one of my favorite treats at Laduree.  The plan started to come together.  I cooked most of the apricots down and pureed them.  I baked the Dacqouise, I melted the Praline bar and mixed it with crushed Gavottes biscuits and made a small layer to go on top of the Dacqouise.  Then I chopped a few Apricots into small pieces and scattered them across the top of the Praline layer.  Next I made a nice sweet-tart Apricot Mousse (the Apricots I bought were more tart then sweet).  I poured the mouse into the cake ring and then placed it in the freezer to set up.

Apricot Puree and Mousse base, 

 Pieces of Apricot on top of the Praline layer

 Finished Cake

Romain and I were invited to dinner at a friends house that night, so I took the cake with us for dessert.  When I presented the cake, everyone oooh and ahhhhed.  Then Romain thought it funny to say I had just bought it at a shop around the corner.  Good thing I had my camera with the photos I took along the way, or they might have believed him.  There were 6 of us, and we easily finished the entire cake.  I definitely plan to make this one again.  I saw that the Apricots are still on special in the grocery and are overflowing the bins in many of the fruit stands around me, so maybe there will be some other Apricot inspired desserts in the near future.