Apricot soup with rosemary

The apricot season is drawing to a close and that is a good reason to try out some recipes before it is too late. At a recent visit to Granville, a great coastal town in Normandy and the Manche department, a restaurant suggested apricot soup with rosemary as dessert. I was intrigued by the combination and conquered by the result.

Back home, I wanted to try it myself.

Apricot soup with raspberries

First, I made a plain apricot soup with rosemary. The smell of rosemary was rather present at the start so I took out the sprig after a while. But later, when we ate the soup, there was only a hint left so the rosemary can stay longer during the presentation.

A second evening, I added some red fruit, mint and grilled almonds.

Ingredients

• Two kilo’s of apricots
• 200 grammes of fine sugar
• Two cups of water
• One large sprig of rosemary
• A glass of a sweet fortified wine such as Muscat de Rivesaltes, Floc de Gascogne etc. 
• (Optional; 100 grammes of raspberries, 50 grammes of blanched and grilled almonds, some mint leaves)

Steps

1. Wash the apricots, cut them in two to remove the stone and then halve the halves again.
2. Put the sugar and water in a large plan and cook until the sugar is dissolved and small bubbles start rising to the surface.
3. Add the apricots and cook.
4. Wash the rosemary and add to the apricots, stir and cook for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add the Muscat, stir and switch off the heat.
6. Let it cool, blend the apricots with a mixer or kitchen machine and set it aside in the fridge for several hours before serving.
7. Just before presenting, you can add fruit, almonds, mint, a scoop of ice cream, flat curved sugary biscuit (tuile), or whatever you like.