apricots

Here’s to rustic summer baking at its best! This fresh apricot crisp features sweet apricots baked under a buttery oat crisp topping, until hot and bubbly. This is a perfect laid back summer dessert to serve simply as is, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – or a dollop of crème fraiche on top, in true French fashion.

When life gives you Apricots, make an Apricot Flaugnarde! This dessert hailing from the Limousin region, in south-central France, is a delicious variant of the Cherry Clafoutis – but made with Apricots. Resembling a large pancake, this dessert is made with seasonal stonefruits placed in a buttered dish, covered with a flan-like batter and baked until puffy. A “Clafoutis” is in fact the name given to this dessert when made with cherries, while “Flaugnarde” (also spelled Flognarde) is the name given when made with apricots, plums, peaches or apples and …

Even as a butter devotee, I’ll admit olive oil is an essential in your baking pantry – because olive oil simply makes outstandingly good cakes. It lends a rich moisture to the crumb (that develops further with time) and a distinct herbaceous aroma, only true to olive oil. Olive oil cakes are deeply anchored in Mediterranean baking traditions, and France is no exception. I actually remember one of the first cakes I ever made on my own as a child, being a simple olive oil cake with orange zest. It …