Dried Apricots Baked with Vanilla

November 8, 2006 at 8:13 pm · Filed under Fruit, Sweets

You can serve this with cream or ice cream, but this is lovely and light just as it is.

1 cup dried apricots (about 25 small apricots)
1 inch long piece of fresh vanilla bean (halved lengthwise – use only the seeds) or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350o F. Cover the apricots with the warm water and let them stand for 15 minutes if they are already plump and soft, at least 30 minutes if they are hard and dry. Drain, but reserve the water.

Put the water and vanilla bean seeds or vanilla extract in a small, ovenproof baking dish and mix well. Add the apricots, sprinkle them with the sugar, cover with foil, and bake until the water is nearly absorbed, about 1 hour. Turn each of the apricots over in the syrup, cover and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Will keep in the fridge for at least a week.

Permalink