Chocolate Stuffed Apricots and Figs
This recipe is based on one from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. My four daughters always
enjoyed helping me with this dessert because I hate to prepare dishes that take a lot of messy hand-work. (I always
told the girls that I hated "potchke messes" - using the Yiddish term for fuss or bother.) The girls, however,
loved to work with chocolate, particularly when it came time to clean up and I allowed them to first lick their fingers.
These are elegant decorations on a dessert buffet. I serve them in tiny gold-foil paper cups.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried figs, 8 ounces dried apricot halves
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 pound semisweet, high-quality chocolate
- 1 T. butter
- 1 egg yolk, beaten slightly
- 6 ounces semisweet high-quality chocolate
- 1 T. solid vegetable shortening
Soften the figs by pressing each one between your fingers. Cut
a small slit through the bottom of each fig to make a pocket.
Cover a cookie sheet or tray with foil, and make room for it in the
refrigerator.
Stuffing
Put the cream in a large glass microwave container, and bring it just to
a boil. Chop the first 1/4 pound of chocolate, and add this
to the cream. Stir until the chocolate is melted, heating briefly
between stirrings in the microwave.
Add the butter, and stir until smooth. Cool for 3 minutes.
Stir in the yolk until smooth. Put this bowl in the freezer, removing
every five to ten minutes to stir. Remove from the freezer
when it is as stiff as chilled cream cheese.
Fill each fig with the stuffing, pressing the edges together.
Fill each pair of apricot halves, trying to close the edges.
Place the filled fruit on the prepared tray, and refrigerate or
freeze while preparing the glaze:
Glaze
Chop the remaining chocolate, and melt in the microwave or over
a double-boiler. Add the vegetable shortening, and cover until melted.
Take particular care not to allow even a drop of water to get into
this mixture. Prepare another tray or plate to hold the dipped
fruit. Hold a chilled, stuffed piece of fruit (by the stem for
the figs), and dip into the glaze. Don't use too much chocolate
because you don't want a heavy layer on the bottom. Place
glazed fruit on the fresh tray. Refrigerate until firm.
These can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen. Allow
frozen fruit to defrost in the refrigerator for 2 hours). Serve
very cold.