La Recette du Jour

We are fortunate enough to know someone with an organically cultivated apricot orchard, and at this time of year we take delivery of a 10kg crate of golden, red-tinged apricots. Unlike the under-ripe, tasteless apricots you get in shops, these are actually a pleasure to eat raw. Still, we can't eat 10kg of apricots in a weekend, so time to get the preserving pan out.

Last year I made the best apricot jam I've ever made with these apricots, but I made so much we still have some jars left, so this time I "only" used 2kg of apricots for that. Another excellent and very easy way of keeping apricots is to preserve them raw in a mixture of syrup and alcohol. The resulting apricots are delicious in any cooked apricot dessert, or just as they are with cream or ice cream. And of course the preserving liquid makes a very nice digestif.

I'm always looking for ways of using up home-made yoghurt so it doesn't linger in the fridge too long. This cake is a well-known one in France, especially as something that's easy for children to make (no weighing involved). You measure everything in a yoghurt pot; unfortunately the recipe didn't specify what size a yoghurt pot is, and since I make my own I didn't have any to hand. However, I decided it was about 100 ml, used a small jar of that capacity, and the recipe came out OK.

Perfect for an apricot tart ... or any other sort of fruit tart. Bake blind, add a layer of crème patissière if you want, and then top with fruit of your choice, arranged in a nice pattern and glazed with redcurrant jelly or sieved apricot jam.