Yes its still winter, and its blowing a gale. But that doesn’t mean desert is of the menu.
If you are lucky enough to have an apricot tree in your garden, save this recipe for the summer. Or if you are lucky enough to live in Australia (!) then now is the season for these fabulous little stone fruits. Or so I’m told by Sam at Nourish Food Life, who is living the dream – in an orchard no less!

This is a delicious and refreshing Peach, Apricot and Vodka Sorbet that a put together last summer for a magazine recipe. I made it sugar free, and sweetened it with the help of honey and agave syrup. I also made it for ‘adults only’ by adding a dash of vodka to the sorbet mixture. This gives its a smoother more luxurious texture, as the ice crystals don’t freeze too hard.

I also roasted the apricots first, before simmering them in the honey, to get them really soft and bursting with nectar-like aromas.

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Serves 6

12 or 500g apricots
1 can of unsweetened peaches or 3 fresh peaches
60 ml honey
60 ml organic agave syrup
100 ml peach juice
1 tbsp vodka (can be omitted)
a squeeze of lemon juice

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Preheat oven to 160C/130 fan/gas mark 2

Halve, and de-stone the apricots and place in a roasting dish lined with grease proof paper. Roast in the oven for 25 min. Then set aside.

Meanwhile prepare your peaches. If using fresh peaches, de-stone first.
Finely dice the peaches and set aside 1/4 of the fruit for later. Place the remaining fruit in a small saucepan, together with the honey and agave syrup.
Bring to a gentle simmer.
Now add the roasted apricots, and simmer for 4-5 min.
Take off the heat, and add the lemon juice and vodka (optional).
Place the fruit mixture in a blender and blitz until smooth.
Stir in the diced peach which was set aside earlier, then pour the sorbet mixture into an ice-cream maker and follow instructions.

Alternatively pour into a freezer container, and place in the freezer.
Every 30 min take the sorbet mixture out of the freezer and stir with a fork. This will ensure a smooth textured sorbet. Do this 3 times.

The sorbet will be ready after 2.5-3 hours.