Apricot Ice

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small 2-quart saucepan
• •Blender or food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •Digital refractometer calibrated in Brix
• •1.5-quart ice cream machine
• •Shallow 1-quart freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Combine the 1⅝ cups sugar and 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Warm gently, stirring only until every crystal disappears, then bring the clear syrup to a boil and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Remove it from the heat and cool completely. Measure 2 cups (475 ml) for the recipe; if evaporation left you a little short, add enough cold water to reach the line. If crystals form as it cools, do not discard it. Ça se rattrape: add 1 tablespoon of water, warm gently until clear, and cool it again.

2. 2

   Purée the apricots

   Pit the apricots and blend the flesh raw until completely fluid. Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly with a flexible spatula, then measure exactly 2 cups (475 ml / 500 g). Process another apricot if you are short, and reserve any excess for breakfast. Do not stretch the purée with water. Cooking or diluting it costs the fresh perfume this preparation exists to preserve.

   The fruit is ready when it yields to gentle pressure and smells distinctly of apricot at the stem. Colour alone proves nothing.
3. 3

   Balance the base

   Whisk the 2 cups apricot purée with the 2 cups cooled syrup, then add the juice of both lemons. Check a smooth drop of the mixture with a digital refractometer at room temperature. The classical target of 18° to 19° on the saccharometer is approximately 32° to 34° Brix. If the reading is low, whisk in the correction sugar 1 teaspoon at a time until fully dissolved; if it is high, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time. Rest the base for a minute and recheck after every addition.

   Without a refractometer, keep the measured proportions exact and taste the base well chilled. It should seem slightly sweeter and more pointed with lemon than you want at the table, because freezing mutes both.
4. 4

   Chill it thoroughly

   Cover the base closely and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, until it is cold through rather than merely cool at the surface. A warm base melts the freezer bowl before the ice has time to form finely, which leaves coarse crystals. Stir once before churning so the fruit solids are evenly suspended.

5. 5

   Churn until dense

   Pour the cold base into a fully frozen 1.5-quart ice cream machine and churn according to its directions, usually 25 to 35 minutes. Stop when the ice holds the trace of the paddle and mounds softly on a spoon. If it remains pourable after 35 minutes, the bowl was not cold enough; return the base to the refrigerator, freeze the clean bowl until solid, and churn again. Do not correct a warm machine with extra sugar.

6. 6

   Set the texture

   Pack the churned ice into a shallow freezer container, press a piece of parchment directly against the surface, cover, and freeze for about 2 hours. This short hardening gives it a clean scoop without turning it into a block. If it has frozen overnight, let it stand in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, or at room temperature for 8 to 10 minutes, before serving.

7. 7

   Scoop and serve

   Scoop the glace aux abricots into chilled coupes and serve without garnish. For a picnic, carry the covered container between solid frozen blocks in a well-insulated cooler and open it only when the bowls are ready. The ice needs no biscuit tower, herb sprig, or other nonsense. Ripe apricot has already done the work. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ripe fruit only. If the apricots smell of nothing, choose another dessert and return to this one when the fruit is ready; preserved fruit changes the preparation the source sets down.
• •A digital refractometer is the clean home equivalent of the saccharometer. Look for one calibrated in Brix, test the complete base after adding lemon, and aim for 32° to 34° Brix.
• •Do not peel the apricots. A thorough blending and fine sieving remove troublesome skin while keeping the flesh raw, fragrant, and bright.
• •No ice cream machine means a coarser result. Freeze the base in a shallow metal pan and beat it thoroughly with a fork every 30 minutes until set; it will eat more like a fine granité than churned glace aux abricots, and that difference is real.
• •For outdoor service, pre-chill the serving bowls and keep the ice in its insulated cooler until the last possible moment. A shallow container softens more evenly than a deep tub.

Advance Preparation

• •The syrup can be prepared up to a week ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before measuring so its volume is accurate.
• •The complete base can be mixed and refrigerated up to 24 hours before churning. Stir it well before checking the density and pouring it into the machine.
• •The finished ice is at its most fragrant during its first 3 days. Keep parchment against the surface to limit frost, then temper it briefly before scooping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 149g)