Aaron Bertelsen's baked apricots with bay and honey - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Food Aaron Bertelsen’ s baked apricots with bay and honey By You Magazine - February 9, 2020 While there is very little better than a fresh apricot eaten straight from the tree, if you are lucky enough to have a good crop you will need to be a little more imaginative. Baking apricots intensifies the flavour and will bring the best out of any fruit that is not quite perfectly ripe. The combination of spices in this syrup enhances different aspects of the apricot’s flavour, while baking them whole – with the stones still inside – adds another layer of complexity, with nutty almond flavours emerging. Try this alongside a scoop of good-quality vanilla ice cream or with double cream. This baked apricots recipe would also work well with fresh peaches. Andrew Montgomery SERVES 4-6 PREP TIME 15 minutes COOK TIME 45 minutes 100g runny honey 5 cardamom pods, cracked open generous pinch of saffron threads 1 tsp coarse sea salt 3 small bay leaves 10 apricots 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. 2. Put the honey, 100ml of water, the cardamom pods, saffron, salt and bay leaves into a small pan. Place over medium heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Simmer gently for 3 minutes then remove from the heat. 3. Place the apricots, whole, in a small baking dish big enough to hold them snugly – you don’t want too much space between them. Pour over the honey mixture, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to scrape out any saffron threads that have stuck to the side of the pan. 4. Roast the apricots in the oven for 40 minutes, removing them to baste and turn every so often, or until they are very soft, but still hold their shape. 5. Remove the baked apricots from the heat and either serve immediately or set aside until cool, then store in the fridge until ready to serve. Growing apricots It is worth finding a good nursery for the best choice and expert advice with an apricot tree as it is an investment – particularly if you are treating yourself to a mature plant that will crop sooner than a young one. Make sure your tree is grafted on to dwarfing root stock and that it is self-pollinating. I chose the Isabelle tree which fruits late, after midsummer. This makes sense in a temperate climate, where the fruit needs all the heat the summer can offer. Buy Aaron’ s fabulous new book with a 20 per cent discount Grow Fruit and Vegetables in Pots: Planting Advice and Recipes from Great Dixter will be published by Phaidon Press Ltd on 7 February, price £24.95. To order a copy for £19.95 with free p&p until 2 March call 01603 648155 or go to mailshop.co.uk. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Kids can eat for free at these restaurants during October half-term How to make the viral negroni sbagliato with prosecco at home 7 Halloween recipes with serious hex factor Popular in Food Gabriela Peacock 14-day plan Anytime baked eggs May 23, 2021 Joe Wicks’ maple-glazed chicken thighs with Asian slaw June 6, 2021 Mary Berry is returning to TV screens for a brand new June 15, 2021 Eleanor Maidment My summer taste notes July 4, 2021 Uyen Luu’ s sticky mustard marmalade ribs July 25, 2021 Annie Bell’ s white peach bellinis recipe August 8, 2021 M& S has launched a new crunchy Caramilk-inspired golden chocolate spread August 24, 2021 Deliciously preserved pickle and jam recipes September 19, 2021 Gordon Ramsay’ s bang bang cauliflower October 3, 2021 Wow right now Clodagh McKenna’ s speedy family dinners October 24, 2021 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved