A simple stone fruit dessert that is more than the sum of its parts
Diana Henry The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
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Published
This is really a cheat’s bostock, the French creation where brioche is topped with jam and frangipane (and sometimes fruit) and baked. It is definitely more than just fruit on toast, but it’s as simple as that.
Requires cooling time
Overview
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
25 mins
Serves
6
Ingredients
- 6 thick slices of brioche
- 30g caster sugar, plus 4 tsp
- 50-75ml amaretto, or Marsala
- 75g unsalted butter, very soft
- 110g good-quality marzipan, broken into small chunks
- 12 small ripe apricots, or 6 plums, pitted and quartered
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 35g flaked almonds (optional)
- Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
- Crème fraîche or clotted cream, to serve
Method
Step
Preheat the oven to 200C/190C fan/gas mark 6.
Step
Put 6 thick slices of brioche on a baking sheet or in a roasting tin in which they can lie in a single layer.
Step
Spoon 30g of the caster sugar into a heatproof bowl and pour in 50ml boiling water. Stir until dissolved, then leave this simple syrup to cool.
Step
Stir in 50-75ml amaretto or Marsala to taste.
Step
Spoon the cooled syrup over the brioche slices, covering both sides. Carefully, because the brioche will be very soft now, butter each slice on both sides using 75g very soft unsalted butter.
Step
Arrange 110g good-quality marzipan (broken into small chunks) on top, then add 12 quartered apricots.
Step
Squeeze on the juice of ½ lemon and sprinkle with the remaining 4 tsp caster sugar.
Step
Bake for 25 minutes, sprinkling on 35g flaked almonds, if using, after 15 minutes. The apricots should be tender and the bread and marzipan both golden.
Step
Leave to cool a little (the slices will be very hot), then sift over some icing sugar, if you want.
Step
Serve with crème fraîche or clotted cream.
Extracted from From the Oven to the Table: Simple dishes that look after themselves, by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley, £28)