They're Back!

Every Saturday morning my local PBS station plays cooking shows. Jacques Pepin has been a long time mainstay in the line-up. So I guess you could say that I have grown up with Jacques Pepin over the course of many a Saturday morning. I love the man. But maybe in his old age, he has gotten health conscious, perhaps a little too health conscious if you ask me. On numerous occasions he expounds on the virtues of fruit for dessert-- just fruit.

Now Jacques is not talking about pies, cakes adorned with fruit, or even baked fruit of some sort. He is speaking about good ol' sliced fruit, with maybe some booze spilled over top for good measure. I love fruit as much as the next girl; there is nothing better than the perfect peach, juice dripping onto your chin in those warm summer months. But if I were to dine at Jacques Pepin's house in Connecticut some evening in late spring, where we would share a delightful meal and stimulating conversation, and then dessert would roll around, my stomach eagerly gurgling at the thought of some chocolate coated masterpiece, and if he came merrily out of the kitchen with a bowl of pineapple spears with a bit of rum poured on top...I would be PISSED! I would expect such behavior from a novice chef-- but this is Jacques Pepin!

On the other hand, if I were to go to Australia to have tea with the young, superstar chef Bill Granger, author of Bill's Open Kitchen amongst others, and he came strolling merrily out of his kitchen, a pot of tea in one hand, and a lovely Apricot Slice in the other... I would be thrilled! It's not that I'm against having fruit for dessert, its just that a little something must be done to it.

Apricots are back in the market in California, and I couldn't be happier to see my sweet, stone fruit, friends again. It has been a long and rainy winter, one filled with far too many oranges and grapefruits to count. But the stone fruit is making its first appearances, and bringing cherries, and numerous other berries with it. This recipe is simple and superb, and was one of my favorites from last summer. A dense, vanilla sponge cake with halved, fresh apricots baked on top, the cake is not too sweet, making it the perfect snack for an afternoon tea. With apricots still slightly tart, yet getting carmelized by the addition of some raw sugar part way through the baking process-- this cake is what I'm talking about when I mean fruit for dessert.

If you feel like doing a bit of baking with Bill Granger, the recipe for Apricot Slices is on the Daily Specials page.