Apricot Orange Danish Pastry

These Apricot Orange Danish Pastries are exactly what you might imagine a Danish pastry should be. They are super flaky with just the right amount of sweetness, and are filled with an intensely flavored apricot and orange jam in the center. Then they are topped with two glazes! 

You can make these apricot and orange Danish pastries! I promise! While they look like they might be difficult, they are actually pretty easy to make. They just take a little time and patience.

Apricot Sour Cream Bread

This Apricot Sour Cream Bread is wonderful with coffee for breakfast or with afternoon tea.

This bread is studded with dried apricots and sweetened with freshly squeezed orange juice and turbinado cane sugar.

Apricot Pochettes

These Apricot Pochettes are reminiscent of little French pastry desserts. They are made with a cream cheese and butter pastry dough, and are filled with just a bit of apricot preserves.

These cookies are like mini hand pies. The pastry consists of eight ounces of butter and eight ounces of cream cheese mixed with just a little over eight ounces of flour. That's a pretty incredible ratio.

Semolina Bread with Apricots and Sage

This semolina bread with apricots and sage is a wonderful combination of sweet and savory. The apricots add a sweetness and the aroma of sage totally reminds me of Thanksgiving. It's a wonderful bread for breakfast with butter and honey, or even some melted cheddar. It's also amazing with soup.

Apricot, Almond, and Toasted Coconut Muffins

Apricot, almond, and toasted coconut muffins baked in mini muffin pans! They make it so easy to justify having just one more. After all, they are so tiny!!

They are filled with toasted coconut, toasted almonds, and lots of dried apricot bits. They aren't overly sweet either, and are perfect for breakfast. Of course, if you want to be sinful, you can eat them warm (or re-warmed in the oven), slathered with some butter and apricot jam... not that I would do that... ahem.

Apricot, Almond, & Olive Oil Cake with Vanilla and Lemon

This apricot, almond, & olive oil cake is incredibly moist, and the flavors of the apricots, lemon zest, almond flour, and vanilla seeds combine perfectly to create a delicate and tasty cake.

Muesli Rolls | the Babes Get Healthy... and I'm a Babe!

These muesli rolls are full of lots of good things, such as oats, walnuts, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruit. But the best thing is....

Sunny Side Up Apricot Pastries with Homemade Puff Pastry

I approached these Apricot Pastries with caution. I did not want to get my hopes up because this recipe involved making my own puff pastry.

Tuscan Coffeecake

This Tuscan coffeecake was developed by PJ Hamel (of King Arthur Flour fame) after visiting an Italian bakery in Vermont. As she describes it, it was "Italian-Italian, not American-Italian."

While this is called a coffeecake, it is actually a yeasted bread filled with fruit, nuts, and lightly enriched with a bit of sugar and butter.. but not too much. It is brushed with a vanilla sugar mixture prior to baking to give it a nice crunchy glaze. It's reminiscent of panettone, without all of the fuss.

Only issue? How to evenly distribute the fruit throughout the loaf when shaping. I'll have to work on that.

Knowing that certain members of my family who shall remain nameless would probably not like the walnuts included in the original recipe, I substituted chopped dried apricots. I also substituted dried cherries for the dates called for in the original recipe. In addition, I added 1/8 tsp of Fiori de Sicilia, an Italian flavoring that combines the flavors and scents of vanilla and citrus.

Keep in mind that you will need to make the starter the night before making the bread. It can sit out on your counter for several hours to get bubbly and develop flavor. It's super easy so don't let the word "starter" stop you from trying this delicious bread.

This bread was chosen for the Avid Bakers Challenge for February. Each month, we are baking a recipe from the King Arthur Flour website. To see how other bakers fared, check out the Avid Bakers Challenge page. You'll find lots of delicious looking variations.

Tuscan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Starter

1 cup / 4.25 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or European-Style Flour (I used the European style)
1/2 cup cool water
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast

Final Dough

All of the starter
2/3 cup water
2 3/4 cups / 11.7 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or European-Style Flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 large egg
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 tsp Fiori de Sicilia, optional

Add Ins

1 cup dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup dried cherries, soaked in hot water and then drained

Glaze

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water

Instructions

1. Mix the starter ingredients in a one quart bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to sit overnight, until bubbly.
2. Mix all of the dough ingredients in a stand mixer or bread machine until smooth, about 7 minutes. 
3. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for about an hour (if your kitchen is really cold, you should let it rise longer). If it doesn't completely double, that's okay. 
4. Knead the fruit into the dough, and shape it into a ball. Place the ball into an oiled 9 inch cake pan and flatten it a bit, cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for about 30 minutes. It should just crest over the top of the pan (the loaf will rise even more in the oven). 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Mix the glaze ingredients and brush the top of the loaf with the mixture. 
7. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the interior of the loaf reaches 190 degrees F. 
8. Allow it to cool in the pan for five minutes. Remove it from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. 

Sharing with Yeastspotting

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Apricots

Welcome to Day #2 of Appetizer Week, a multi-blogger event co-hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic. With the big football game coming up, we wanted to make sure you had plenty of ideas for your game day spread. Each day we will be dishing up a different set of appetizers. We hope you enjoy this fabulous group of recipes. Tune in each day starting with Monday, January 20 and ending on Saturday, January 25.

These bacon wrapped stuffed apricots are filled with Havarti cheese and almonds. The sweetness of the apricots combined with the mild melty cheese and the crunchy almonds go beautifully with the bacon (it's a cliché, but what doesn't go well with bacon?).

These are perfect little appetizers for a party, and are so easy to make. Havarti cheese is very creamy and mild, and melts perfectly inside the apricots.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Apricots

Ingredients

24 dried apricots

3 oz Havarti cheese, sliced 1/4 inch thick and then cut into 1/2 inch squares

24 almonds

12 strips of bacon, cut in half across the middle

24 toothpicks (soak in water)

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Set a rack about 6 inches below your broiler.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.
3. Slit open the apricots and place a piece of cheese and an almond inside.
4. Wrap with a slice of bacon with a 1/2 inch overlap (trim off excess).
5. Secure with a toothpick and sprinkle with black pepper. 
6. Broil the appetizers, turning often with tongs to crisp the bacon all over. 
7. If there is too much grease, you can move the appetizers to a second foil lined pan and continue to broil. The whole broiling process should take about 10 minutes or less. 
8. Serve immediately.

Adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking Appetizers, Fall, 2011

Visit all the other Appetizer Week Peeps for more Munchie Causing Goodness:

• Caramelized Onion, Brie, and Pear Crostini by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Easy Low-Carb Chicken Dip by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Tuna Bruschetta by What's Cooking, Love?
• Harvest Sweet Potato Salsa by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Mini Cheeseburgers by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Pinwheels by Home Cooking Memories
• Easy Cheesy Mexican Dip by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• French Onion Grilled Cheese Stackers by Mom's Test Kitchen

Whole Wheat Challah with Apricots

Challah is typically baked with white flour. As Daniel Leader says, "challah is the whitest of white breads." He also points out that observant Jews baked bread prior to the invention of white flour, so they must have baked challah with whole grains at some point.

This challah dough is about half whole wheat flour and half white flour. The addition of a small amount of finely chopped dried apricots add a touch of sweetness to balance the bite of the whole wheat flour.

The bread is pretty amazing, and going forward, it will be difficult for me to choose which challah recipe to bake. This bread is light and airy, and simply wonderful. The dough behaved and was super easy to braid.

More awesome challah recipes to check out: Italian challah and Demerara sugar honey challah.

Whole Wheat Challah with Apricots

Slightly adapted from Simply Great Breads: Sweet and Savory Yeasted Treats from America's Premier Artisan Baker.

Ingredients

240 grams stone ground whole wheat flour

219 grams unbleached all purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 C water

3 large room temperature eggs

1/2 C olive oil

1/4 C honey

30 grams finely chopped dried apricots

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours, yeast, salt, water, two of the eggs, olive oil, and honey. Stir with a large spoon or dough whisk to moisten. 
2. Knead the ingredients with the dough hook on medium-high speed for about 4 to 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl. I had to add a couple of extra tablespoons of flour.
3. Add the apricots and knead/mix for an additional minute or so.
4. Move the dough to an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and let it rise until doubled, about 90 to 120 minutes. 
5. Deflate the dough and cut it into three equal pieces. 
6. Roll the pieces into 15 inch long pieces.
7. On a parchment lined baking sheet, place the pieces next to each other and, at one end, press the pieces together and tucking them under the beginning of the braid.
8. Braid the strands and, when finished, tuck the other end under the loaf. 
9. Cover the braid with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes. 
10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
11. Beat the remaining egg and brush it over the loaf. 
12. Bake the loaf for about 40 minutes. 
13. Cool completely on a wire rack. 

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling | TWD

Seriously easy-to-make apricot and confectioner's cream Danish pastry. The pastry itself has the richness of laminated dough without all of the work, and the fillings are made in a microwave. Even better, you can make the dough and fillings a couple of days in advance and keep them in the refrigerator.

This bread was rich, buttery, and flakey and filled with the tartness of apricots and the sweetness of confectioner's cream.

Based on the easiness of preparing the ingredients and the tastiness of the finished product, I will be making this one again and again.

While this bread is called a braid, the look is created by cutting the rolled out dough and crossing strips of it over each other. Easy.

This recipe comes from Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers by Dorie Greenspan. 

Danish Braid with Apricot and Confectioner's Cream Filling

Danish Pastry

Ingredients

1/8 C water

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF Gold)

1/4 C room temperature milk

1/2 large egg, room temperature (How much is half and egg? Whisk the egg and then put it into a measuring cup. Use half.)

1/8 C sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 C unbleached all purpose flour 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Instructions

1. Whisk the water, yeast, milk, egg, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Put the flour into the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade. Add the butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until the butter is cut into 1/2 inch pieces. 
3. Add the flour and butter mixture to the yeast mixture, and stir gently with a dough scraper or rubber spatula until just combined. 
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight and up to 4 days. 
5. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, dust it with flour, and pat it into a square. Roll it into an 8 inch square. 
6. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. 
7. Roll it and fold it again two more times, wrap it with plastic wrap, and chill it for 30 minutes to 2 days. 

Confectioner's Cream

Ingredients

1 C heavy cream

1 1/2 T cornstarch

2 T sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Using a 1 quart glass measuring cup, whisk the cream, cornstarch, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave the ingredients for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes more, one minute at a time until it boils and slightly thickens. 
3. Mix the egg yolk and vanilla. Add a bit of the hot cream to temper the egg, and then add the egg to the cream mixture. Whisk very well, and then microwave for another 30 seconds. Whisk again. The cream should be thickened. 
4. Cover the top of the cream with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. 
5. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Apricot Filling

Ingredients

1 C dried apricots

1 C water

1 C sugar

2 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

1. In a 1 quart glass measuring cup, stir the apricots, water, and sugar together. 
2. Microwave for about 10 minutes, stirring about every 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Place the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.
4. Add the lemon juice and extract and pulse.
5. Scrape the ingredients into a small container, cool, and refrigerate for up to a week.

To assemble the bread:

Ingredients

All of the pastry dough

Apricot filling

Confectioner's Cream filling

One egg white, whisked

Pearl or sparkling sugar

Sliced almonds

Instructions

1. On a piece of parchment, roll the dough into a 10 by 14 inch rectangle.
2. Mark the dough with a knife or dough scraper lengthwise to divide it into thirds. Don't cut all of the way through. 
3. Place a layer of the apricot filling down the center. You won't use all of the filling. 
4. Place a layer of the Confectioner's Cream on top of the apricot filling. Again, you will have leftover filling.
5. Using a knife, cut each outside third of the dough on a slant to create about 14 strips. 
6. Fold them alternatively over each other, brush with the egg white, sprinkle with the sugar, and add the almonds.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
8. Let it rise for about 30 to 40 minutes, remove the plastic wrap, and bake the pastry for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. 
9. Cool on a rack. 

What is TWD? Tuesdays with Dorie! Check out the TWD website for more variations on this recipe. 

Apricot Braided Loaf

This month the #twelveloaves group is baking bread using stone fruit.

You should know, this is the second loaf of bread I made for this post. You don't want to know about the first one. Let's just say, the dough is the blob taking over my trash can. I wish "someone" would take the trash out so I would quit being reminded of the legendary fruit filled loaf debacle. Something about the recipe being for two loaves but not mentioning it.... something about the apricot filling being super runny and flowing all over the dough... something about... well... never mind. I was distracted.

So where did I turn in a pinch? Why King Arthur Flour, of course.

I was a little concerned about this bread for awhile too. It's unusually humid here right now, and the dough was super sticky.. but as you can see, the dough behaved and produced an amazingly delicious loaf. The one thing I might do differently next time? I'd probably add more apricots. I was pretty conservative after my fruit filled loaf debacle (which, mind you, I'm not talking about) but I'm pretty sure more apricot slices would work well here.

Enriched dough.... cream cheese... apricot jam... fresh apricots... breakfast deliciousness.