Fresh, luscious apricots filled with mascarpone cheese that has been slightly sweetened and then drizzled with a delicious honey balsamic sauce. For the cream, you can use a piping bag to give it a more upscale appearance.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 16 stuffed apricot halves |
Ingredients
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 4 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 2 tablespoons apricot nectar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch ground cardamom (Optional)
- 3 tablespoons apricot preserves
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 8 fresh apricots, pitted and halved
Instructions
- Beat the cream in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar and set aside. In another bowl, whip the mascarpone cheese with an electric mixer until very soft; beat in the apricot nectar, vanilla extract, and cardamom. Gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream.
- Place the apricot preserves and honey into a microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave oven until warm but not hot, about 30 seconds. Mix well and stir the balsamic vinegar into the honey mixture.
- Stuff each apricot half with a dollop of the mascarpone cream and place the filled apricot halves on a serving dish. Drizzle the fruit and plate with balsamic sauce and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 253 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 58 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 23 mg |
| Sugars | 21 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is quick, tasty, and just a little elegant. Great finger food (one bite depending on the size of your apricots) for a buffet table. You want to have everything well-chilled and fill the apricots just before serving. Once it’s at room temperature, the filling starts to soften and run pretty quickly, and that’s not a pretty sight.
This recipe was wonderful. I quartered the apricots and put them around a serving tray, then put a dollop of the whipped cream mixture on each. The cream went together a little but made it look pretty. The apricot sauce was perfect. Many friends requested this recipe. I will make this again.
Pretty darn good. I didn’t have any nectar so I used a capful of brandy instead and aslo supstituted the cardamom for cinnamon. The marscapone part of the dessert was the best!