I am currently in that circle of hell reserved for people who blog about food but cannot eat it. I’ve had some kind of stomach virus (I think. Or it could be worms. That is exactly what I need. Worms.) since last weekend and though I hadn’t been hungry all week, I am very hungry now but the stomach is not accepting donations.
I’ve generally been feeling weird lately, and part of it I attribute to aging. I can’t remember anything anymore. I recently went away on a girls’ weekend (which, sadly, ended at some point) and the whole weekend was full of conversations like:
“So I have a friend that lives in…African country! Abject poverty! Blood diamonds!”
“The Congo?”
“Right! This is just like that game…shouting out clues! Have to guess the word! Board game!”
My friends and I, we are losin’ it. But the good news is that soon we won’t remember to care.
The other good news is that it’s apricot season. Apricots just look so…peachy to me — like a teenaged girl with good skin (I would never know what that’s like). I got a box of apricots from my CSA and made this dessert which I promise may be the best thing I’ve ever tasted (it’s large category, that.). Seriously though it is incredibly awesome, like as awesome as if your tongue were a skating rink and Olympic skaters were winning the gold medal on it.
Some incredibly gifted person named Miki posted this on Allrecipes but I modified it a bit to add a bit of citrus and floral aromas, substituting lemon curd for apricot nectar, marmalade for apricot preserves and using a violet flavored balsamic vinegar .
APRICOTS WITH MASCARPONE CREAM adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients
- 3 TBSP sugar
- 4 oz mascarpone cheese
- 2 TBSP lemon curd
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch ground cardamom
- 3 TBSP marmalade
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar (I used violet flavored vinegar)
- 8 fresh apricots, pitted and halved
Preparation
- Beat the cream in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar and set aside. In another bowl, whip the mascarpone cheese with an electric mixer until very soft; beat in the lemon curd, vanilla extract, and cardamom. Gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream.
- Place the marmalade and honey into a microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave oven until warm but not hot, about 30 seconds. Mix well and stir the balsamic vinegar into the honey mixture.
- Stuff each apricot half with a dollop of the mascarpone cream and place the filled apricot halves on a serving dish. Drizzle the fruit and plate with balsamic sauce and serve.
Serves 8 (or 1, if it’s me).
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