Skip to main content

Apricot

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme! 

Sur La Table giveaway

If you are a coffee drinker, you need to get a French press. This is the best way to make coffee at home, and it doesn’t get any easier. You get an amazing coffee-house flavor, and it doesn’t even need electricity. I fell in love with French press coffee in Europe and I’ve used them ever since.

This gorgeous version from Le Creuset is available at Sur La Table, and as I’ve told you before, I’m a huge fan of Sur La Table.

For a gorgeous, thoughtfully stocked, kitchen store, their prices are outstanding (remember that marble rolling board? Shockingly inexpensive!) and the store has everything I’m looking for, I’d take this over shoe shopping any day (ok, most days).

Sur La Table and I are giving away this fabulous Le Creuset French Press (that I adore) and some amazing Sarahbeth’s Peach Apricot jam that has quickly become a favorite of mine. The ingredients are amazingly simple: sugar, water, peaches, apricots. The simplicity of the recipe puts the focus on the amazing fruit. Try turning over the jar of jam at your local super market and you’ll know why I’m so thrilled with this jam. Most commercial jam is full of dozens of unpronounceable ingredients, and even food dye (why the heck does my apricot jam need to be oranger?!). Sarahbeth’s jam is amazing, I’m a fan of the honest ingredients and incredibly huge flavors of real life fruit.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers4

Because this jam is so gorgeously simple, I wanted a recipe that was simple as well. Something easy to throw together for your Mothers Day brunch, but that will show off that fabulous jam.

Just roll out a sheet of puff pastry and cut it into squares.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers5

Fill those squares with a little sweetened cream cheese and jam (the stuff that breakfast dreams are made of).

Peaches and Cream Turnovers6

Seal it up to keep all the good stuff inside.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers7

Brush it will a glaze made from jam and a little water to thin it.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers8

Bake it to golden brown perfection.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

Yield: Yield: 6 Pastries

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
  • ¼ cup Apricot jam
  • 2 tbs jam plus 1 tbs water for glaze
  • pearl or sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, set aside.
  3. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 6 equal sized squares.
  4. Add 1 tablespoon sweetened cream cheese towards one corner of the squares, leaving about ½ inch edge empty. Top with 1 tablespoon jam.
  5. Moisten the edges with water, fold the puff pastry over into a triangle.
  6. Use a fork to seal the edges, transfer to a baking sheet that has been covered with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  7. In a small bowl, wisk together the 2 tbs jam and 1 tbs water. Brush each pastry with the glaze, sprinkle with pearl or sanding sugar if desired.
  8. Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Apricot Basil Ice Cream

I’ve always defined the "Perfect Gift" as something you want but would never spend the money to buy for yourself. Things that may not be expensive, but because money is a limited resource no matter who you are , these things just don’t make that "Must Buy Today" list. Things you quietly (or possibly aggressively) lust after but there are always other things that take top billing in your budget.

A few years ago I was given a KitchenAid Ice Cream maker (affiliate link). for Christmas. Perfect. I wanted it, but don’t make enough ice cream to really justify the purchase. I’d see it at Sur La Table, pause for a moment and then end up with something a bit more practical in that brown and purple bag.

Now that I have it, it makes me feel like a brilliant hostess. "You MADE ice cream? From scratch?" it sounds so luxurious  and ambitious. Even though I only break it out a few times a year, I am always so glad I have it. If you agree not to tell anyone how easy it is to make ice cream from scratch, I won’t either. And we can continue to impress people with the long hours we slaved away to bring them such a momentous dessert.

Apricot Basil Ice Cream

Apricot add in:

 4 cups soft apricots, pitted

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

4 large basil leaves

1/4 cup sugar

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups whole milk

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer for at least 8 hours (I store mine in the freezer so it’s always ready to go) or freeze according to manufacturer specifications.

In a food processor, add the apricots, lemon juice, basil leaves and 1/4 cup sugar, puree until smooth, some chunks of apricot are fine.

To make the ice cream base, add the milk, egg yolks, vanilla and remaining sugar  to a cold sauce pan and whisk until the mixture is well combined. Place the pan over medium high heat and stir until the mixture has thickened slightly (will coat a spoon), about 10 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in the cream.

Add the apricot puree and mix until combined. Add to an air tight container and place in the fridge and allow to cool for at least 4 hours.

Add to the frozen ice cream bowl and churn according to manufactures specifications, about 12 minutes in my Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker. Place in an air tight container and freeze until firm, about 2 additional hours.

{Pin This Post!}

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Pinterest

Domestic Fits on Facebook

Goat Cheese Stuffed Apricots With Honey

I have a message for that guy who decides what day holidays are on. It’s awesome when he picks a day of the week, rather than a date of the month. He did a great job deciding on Thanksgiving and Easter, but a spectacularly awful job for Halloween and the 4th of July.

So I have some changes to propose to…that guy. Whoever he is.

The 4th of July should be celebrated on the first Friday in July, so that the 5th of July never has me sitting in an office trying to participated in work related functions with the remnants of my "casual get together turned late night party" still hanging onto me like a overly tired toddler. I do realize that if you name a holiday after a date, then it really messes people up if it doesn’t occur on that date, as in, "Are you coming over for The 4th of July on the 6th of July?" But, Holiday Naming Guy is to blame for that.

So my suggestion is that Independence Friday is now to  replace (or rather move) Mid Week 4th of July celebrations. All the same patriotic fun with out the comprehensive country wide lack of productivity the following day. I might have to start lobbying for this as soon as I can beat the crap out of who ever invented Day Light Saving time, that Guy is a real A-Hole. 


Goat Cheese Stuffed Apricots

12 apricots

6 to 8 ounces goat cheese

3 tbs raw honey

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits. Grab a small piece of goat cheese, about the size of the pit you just removed and roll it into a ball. Place it in the center of the apricot. Drizzle with honey, sprinkle with pecans.

I also cut these in half again before serving, but that’s your call.

{Pin This Post!}

Follow me on twitter

Follow me on Pinterest

Like Domestic Fits on Facebook


Apricot Mango Creme Brulee Tart

I remember the very first time I had Creme Brulee. A friend of Mr. Fits (a very fancy friend) order it for me while we where all out for dinner at a little restaurant in Pasadena. I was young, in my last year of college, and I was too embarrassed to say that I had no idea what Creme Brulee was. So I waited. Every dessert flanked waiter who came within ten feet of my table was given a thorough visual molesting as I tried to figure out if what he was carrying was, in fact, Creme Brulee. Is that cake-like thing it? Nope. What about that Chocolate thing in that tiny ceramic pot? hmmm, wrong table. And then it was in front of me. I was intimidated. Do I pick off this thick, hard crust on the top? What do I do? I stalled and waited to see what Fancy Friend did with his. Oh..you crack it open by smashing it with the tip of your spoon. I like dessert that involves very subtle violence. I loved it. The fleeting thought did cross my mind that I would love this vanilla custard with the hardened sugar top in a tart shell. Six years later, I did just that.

This week I wrote another article for the Glendale Examiner on the Montrose Farmers Market. It was there that I discovered that apricots are in the last few weeks of their season. I was so drawn to these huge bins of beautiful pale orange fruit they became the center of my recipe. I wasn’t until I was leaving the market that I noticed the lovely Manilla mangos begging to join the party. I obliged.

Apricot Mango Creme Brulee Tart

Tart Crust:

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

3-5 tbs ice coldwater

Apricot Mango Filling:

1 cup chopped apricots

1 cup chopped mango

1/4 cup of honey

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Custard:

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/4 cup of heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp slt

1/4 cup granulated sugar for brulee crust topping

In a food processor, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and process until combined, about 1-2 minutes. Your dough should resemble course meal. Start with 3 tbs of water, pulse until combined. If the crust doesn’t hold together add more water, a bit at a time, until it does. Dump the dough into a tart pan with a remove-able bottom. Starting with the sides, form the crust inside the pan, trying your best to make it all as even as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a least 3 hours (don’t even think about skipping this step).

Heat your oven to 375.

Once your tart is all chilly cold, remove from the fridge and poke holes in it with a fork.

Place a sheet of parchment paper inside your tart and fill with pie weights. If you don’t have any, dried beans work great. Just don’t forget which beans you’ve used as pie weights and accidentally try to make soup out of them later.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until your tart is a light golden brown.

In a pot over medium heat, combine the apricots, mango and the honey. Sprinkle with the cornstarch and stir. If you hate mangos, or apricots or maybe have an undying love for one or the other, this recipe is easily altered. You need 2 cups of chopped stone fruit, you can use whatever ratio of each that you want or 2 full cups of either. You can even sub in some peaches if you wanna get craaaazy. Cook the fruit, stiring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until it is thick and the fruit is broken down a bit. Add to the bottom of the tart crust.

In a bowl, combine the yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar and whisk until light and frothy. In a pot, combine the cream, salt and vanilla and heat until steamy but not boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. While you whisk the eggs, slowly, slowly add the cream, whisking until combined. If there are any lumps or "eggy bits" in your cream mixture (possibly because you didn’t let your cream cool down) strain the custard through a mesh strainer. Pour into the tart shell on top of the fruit.

Bake at 300 degrees until the edges are set and the middle is still wobbly (it will continue to set as it cools) about 40-45 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and keep cold until ready to serve. Just before serving, top the tart with an even layer of granulated sugar. Pass the flame of a kitchen torch slowly and evenly over the tart until it’s liquified and a light amber colored. Serve immediately. The sugar crust will start to break down after about an hour.

O


O