After the richness and excess of food over Christmas it is almost a relief to go back to “normal” eating again and there is nothing more refreshing than fresh summer fruit straight from the fridge. I bought a punnet of apricots because they were on special at Fruit and Veg (R6,66 per punnet) but found that, since I am the only one that enjoys them in the house that I would have apricots coming out of my ears . So there was only one thing to do…and this is what I did.

Honey Roasted Fresh Apricot ice cream

1 punnet fresh apricots (about 400g), halved with pip removed

125ml runny honey (go for best quality instead of economy)

15ml cinammon

60g cold butter cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 240 degrees celcius and place apricots in buttered dish with the cut sides facing upwards. Drizzle with honey and cinammon and scatter butter pieces into as many of the apricot halves as you can. Depending on taste (and whether you are watching your waistline) you can double the quantities of honey and butter specified in the recipe. Roast for about 20 minutes until edges of fruit are starting to brown. Allow to cool slightly before mashing with a fork. The should disintegrate into the most amazing, tangy smelling mush. Allow to cool completely before placing in a blender with:

500ml fresh cream

250ml milk

125ml honey

Blitz together well in the blender scraping down the sides when necessary. Place the blender jug in the fridge and chill well (preferably overnight). This mixture is very thick and could probably be eaten as a mousse type dessert. I cannot stress enough that you have to taste the mixture often to adjust the sweetness as it is very dependant on the ripeness and sweetness of your fresh apricots.

Once chilled, churn in an ice cream maker for about 40 minutes or until very thick or transfer into a freezer proof dish with a lid and freeze for an hour before whisking throughly with a fork. The more often you do this, the smoother your ice cream will be.

I found this ice cream to be quite tart to the point of bitterness and would work well as a cleanser between courses. It is very refreshing and would be enjoyed by people who prefer to steer clear of rich, overly sweet treats. And, if it doesn’t work out exactly as you hoped, place a few scoops of ice cream in the blender with 3 over ripe bananas and a splash of milk, add a dash more honey and make some milkshake instead .

I hope you will give it a try and join me in my attempts to develop more of my own recipes. It is a huge amount of trial and error but I think you have the right instincts and go with your gut when it comes to adjusting the recipe to suit your tastes. I look forward to connecting with you on twitter: @rumtumtiggs or join my facebook page: http://facebook.com/rumtumtiggsSA.

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