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How to cook apricots sous vide

by Great British Chefs4 November 2015

How to cook apricots sous vide

As a soft fruit already, apricots can easily become overcooked and mushy during conventional cooking methods. Cooking them sous vide however, helps to preserve the original shape of the fruit – as the low temperature doesn’t break down the cell walls – and the vibrant colour, resulting in a striking addition to any dessert.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

1
Preheat the water bath to 70°C
2
Mix together the sugar and water in a small pan and bring to the boil to create a syrup. Leave to cool
3
Cut the apricots in half and remove the stones. Place the halves in a single layer in a vacuum bag with the syrup and seal under pressure
4
Place the bag in the preheated water bath to cook for 18–20 minutes. If the fruit is already very ripe, it will require a slightly shorter cooking time
5
Remove the apricots from the bag and serve as desired

Variations

Instead of using a simple sugar syrup to cook the apricots in, the sugar can be replaced by honey or elderflower cordial or the water can be substituted for sweet wine, champagne, apple juice or even port.

Try adding herbs to the bag; thyme, rosemary, tarragon and lemon balm all work particularly well with the flavour of apricots, as does fragrant black tea.

Serving suggestions

Try Steven Smith’s simple yet delicious Apricot ice cream, compote and purée or Phil Howard’s summery dish of Poached apricots with honey ice cream and fresh almonds. Russell Brown serves his sous vide apricots with an almond sponge.

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