Deadly Duo

Apricot Vanilla Parfait

I love apricots and I love my daily breakfast  vanilla shake.  Combine them together with cream cheese and you have a deadly dessert.  Made it yesterday and had it after Sunday lunch.  The dish was licked clean.

The Recipe:

250 gms cream cheese at room temperature; 11/2 cup dried apricots; 2 large scoops F1 French Vanilla; 1/2 cup low fat milk; 1/4 tsp almond essence; 2 tsp sugar if desired.

Soak dried apricots in 2 cups hot water for three hours or overnight.  Stone them and extract the kernel.  Keep kernels aside.  Stew the apricots with 2 tsp sugar and water in which it is soaked until  thick.   Cool and puree 1 cup of the stewed apricots till smooth.  Beat cream cheese, milk and apricot puree together until creamy.  Fold in the  French vanilla and almond essence.  Pour into glass dish.  Top with remaining stewed apricots and garnish with the kernels.  Set overnight in refrigerator.  Serve cold.  A hot favourite in this family.

The Ninth Recipe For Christmas

     

Apricot Siena Cake
This is a chewy, sticky combination of bread and cake. It smells heavenly and tastes divine.  It is said to have originated in Siena, Italy and is also known as Panforte. My first attempt at making it was a total disaster. That was years ago. With a little bit of improvising I managed to get an eatable cake, this year.

Recipe No 9:  Siena Cake

100  gms nuts; 100gms candied pineapple, chopped; 100 gms dried Apricots, chopped; 50 gms candied orange peel; 2/3 cups flour; 2 level tbsp dark cocoa powder; 1 tsp mixed spice; 50 gms dark Cadbury’s chocolate; 1/3 cup sugar; ½ cup honey: 2 tbsp icing sugar to dredge cake with once done.

Mix the nuts, pineapple, apricots candied peel, cocoa and flour together in a deep mixing bowl. Heat the sugar and honey together in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and it begins to boil. Lower flame and simmer 5 minutes. Add the dark chocolate and stir until it has completely melted. Cool 5 minutes and pour over the mixture in the bowl. Mix well. Pour into round 9" pan, sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake in preheated oven at 150 C for 35 minutes or till done (when skewer inserted in centre comes out clean). Cool, cut into wedges and roll in powdered sugar. This cake can be stored for months (unless it’s eaten up by appreciative family members and others). Slice into wedges and dredge with icing sugar. To store, wrap in plastic paper or foil when completely cool and keep in a dry place.

The Seventh Recipe For Christmas

                                                           Apricot Fruit Cake 

Dried apricots have always been a tradition in our household for Christmas and I always have something with apricots every Christmas. This year, I experimented with various fruitcakes and used Dried Apricot Puree instead of burnt sugar. The result…enticing and a rich aroma pervades our house.

Recipe No 7: Christmas Fruit Cake

200 gms each of flour, sugar, tuitti fruitti, black currants, sultanas, cherries and preserved pumpkin and nuts; 5 eggs, 250 gms butter, 1 tsp. mixed spice powder, 50 gms candied peel, ½ tsp baking powder, 2 tsp vanilla; 2 tbsp whiskey (optional); ½ cup dried apricot puree Dec 

Chop fruits. Sieve flour and baking powder into large bowl. Add rest of the ingredients and stir till smooth and glossy. Bake at 150 C  for 45 minutes or till skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.

One For The Road

APRICOT BRANDY

Wine making has been a part of our lives since childhood. Every year my dad would buy the grapes and assisted by my mother make jars of wine for Christmas. Carol singers and others were always given wine and of course we children would take advantage of the season.
Once we grew up all of us began experimenting and Kenny & Anu made some of the most unbelievable concoctions. No one enjoyed this more than Nehru who found it a novelty to be chief taster. Once we moved to Kuala Lumpur the sampling stopped. However, whenever we visited there was something new to taste and we went to the extent of carrying our favourites back to Malaysia carefully wrapped in paper and protected by layers of clothing.
I happened to taste an exquisite liqueur during my visit to Bangalore last year. I liked it so much that I obtained the recipe on my return to KL. And dear Nehru tasted it everyday until it got over. So I ‘m making it again for Christmas.

The Recipe:

300 g package dried apricots; 225 gms sugar; 500 ml vodka

Boil apricots in a little water until soft.  Cool completely.  Place all ingredients in a 2 litre glass jar.  Seal tight. Keep for 3 weeks.  Use as required.

Quick, easy, and perfect for Christmas.

L'chai-im!


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