APRICOT, ORANGE BLOSSOM & WHITE CHOCOLATE FOOL
Equipment
- 1 Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients
- 17.6oz ripe fresh apricots, halved and stoned (or use equivalent in drained canned apricots)
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
- 4.9 oz golden caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp orange blossom water or 3 tbsp Cointreau or Triple Sec
- 1.7 oz quality white chocolate
- 7 oz mascarpone cheese
- 10.1 fl oz double cream, divided
- 5-6 amaretti biscuits, 1 per serving, plus extra to serve
Instructions
- Put the apricot halves in a saucepan with the lemon zest and juice and the sugar (if using canned apricots, drain the liquid first). Gently stir the ingredients to combine, then simmer, uncovered, over a medium heat until the apricots are soft. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Take off the heat and let it cool. (At this stage, if you find there is a lot of excess liquid still, you can further drain the mixture in a fine sieve).
- Tip the cooled apricot mixture into a blender or food processor and blend to a purée. Pour the mixture into a bowl, stir in the orange blossom water – as orange blossom water is very potent, start with a quarter teaspoon and taste before deciding whether to add the remaining quarter teaspoon – (or liqueur) and leave to cool completely. You should end up with approximately one cup of puree.
- In a double boiler, melt the white chocolate and 30g (2 tablespoons) of the cream together at the same time. stirring over a low heat. Take it off the element when there are still a few small lumps and continue to stir until it’s smooth. Let it cool to room temperature (the added cream allows it to cool without setting hard).
- Take the mascarpone out of the fridge to bring to room temperature, then soften in its tub by whisking it vigorously with a fork.
- Whip the remaining 270g (9.5 oz) cream in a bowl – you want it just softly whipped, not stiff.
- When the chocolate/cream mixture has cooled to room temperature, fold it into the mascarpone with a large metal spoon, then fold in the remaining whipped cream (it can be helpful to add a large spoonful of the cream in first to lighten up the mixture, then fold in the rest). Now, add in the puree (you might like to reserve about a third cup of puree to drizzle over the top, as I did) and lightly swirl in the apricot puree.
- Spoon the mixture into 5-6 serving glasses, crumble one amaretti biscuit over top* and serve. If not serving immediately, store in the fridge (it will keep for up to a day). Serve extra amaretti biscuits alongside, if desired.
Notes
*In New Zealand, we only have the crisp amaretti biscuits. I like to store the puddings in the fridge with the amaretti biscuits already crumbled over top - this softens the biscuits over the course of the day.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how if you liked it in the comments below!