Kitchen column “Home Cook”: Baked Apricots

A good apricot is something like the essence of summer. Delicate yet intense, fleshy, juicy, and dry at the same time, and so complex that you don't know what to taste first: It's sweet and tart, creamy and floral, with hints of lavender, rose, orange, honey, caramel, tropical fruits, and bitter almond oil.

Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain apricots that do justice to their normally wonderful aroma, British cookbook author Nigel Slater once complained, ranting that he knew of "no fruit whose character and reputation have been so corrupted by the greed and ignorance of commercial traders as the apricot."

Slater may be right in that modern breeding, storage, cold chains, and transportation certainly haven't improved the flavor quality of fruit overall. But it would be a real shame to forgo apricots for that reason. Especially since you can breathe aromatic life into even mediocre supermarket produce. For example, by sweetening it with honey or syrup, which enhances the fruit's natural flavor better than sugar. Or you can put the fresh apricots in the oven. There, you can cheat a little with heat, herbs, and spices, and the result, a deeply fruity, charred amalgam, is much more summery than it sounds.

Furthermore, oven-baked cooking best demonstrates the versatility of apricots. Why they pair just as well with pork, lamb, or game as they do with cake, chocolate, fruit salad, or cheese. With a single click of the tongue, they demonstrate what connects the Wachau (apricot dumplings) with Marrakech (lamb and apricot tagine), or Vienna (Sachertorte) with Tehran (apricot rice), London (stuffed turkey), and Avignon (apricot tart).

A basic course in versatility is a double recipe that allows you to prepare an appetizer (burrata with rosemary apricots) and a dessert (apricot and raspberry crumble) from twelve halved apricots at once, in a short time and in the same oven. To do this, place twelve halved apricots, cut-side up, in a small baking dish (burrata) and a pan (crumble). Season the fruit for the appetizer with 5 tablespoons of good olive oil, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, salt, freshly ground pepper, and the chopped needles of two rosemary sprigs. Drizzle the crumbled apricots with 3–4 tablespoons of syrup (elderberry, rosemary) and roast on the stovetop for 3–4 minutes. First, spread 150 g of raspberries, then a crumble mixture made from 50 g of oat flakes, 5 tablespoons of maple syrup, and 40 g of chopped dark chocolate evenly on top. Bake both dishes in a preheated oven (180°C, fan-assisted oven, about 20–25 minutes) until the crumble is crispy and the fruit is creamy. For the last 1–2 minutes, bake a piece of burrata (125–200g) on top of the rosemary apricots; mozzarella also works.

The starter is delicious with sourdough bread, and the dessert with cool sour cream yogurt. The crumble recipe comes from Nigel Slater. In the end, he just couldn't resist it.

Burrata with baked apricots (2 people)

- 6-8 apricots (depending on size)

- Salt

- black pepper

- 5 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tbsp maple syrup

- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

- Burrata (125 - 200 g as desired)

Apricot and raspberry crumble (serves 2)

- 6-8 apricots (depending on size)

- 150 g raspberries

- 3 tbsp syrup (rosemary, elderberry)

- 50 g oat flakes (large leaf)

- 40 g dark chocolate

- 5 tbsp maple syrup