Apricot glaze for cheesecake

I am an apricot idiot. I never lived any of the places where you could be sure of getting good ones, and bad ones are just bad. I bought them in shops and found them to be tasteless, sour or mealy about 90% of the time. And on top of that, they were never cheap.

The flash photo actually shows the transparency better

I’ve been slow to appreciate Italian apricots for those reasons, and those reasons exist here, too. I think the percentages are better for good ones here, because they don’t have to travel so far. The best were under Amelia’s tree where they grew, so that’s a clue.

I’m invited to a party tonight to which everyone will bring something. I’m bringing cheesecake, having learned that in my experience all Italians love cheesecake from first bite. I used the recipe from this earlier post but before even starting it I decided to glaze it using whatever fruit I found in the street market. I was spoiled for choice, but picked apricots based on the sworn word of a cute Pugliese boy that they were sweet, juicy and ripe, and that as a matter of fact he had eaten them for breakfast that morning. You’d think by now I would know not to depend on the word of a cute boy, but I’m hopeless, apparently.

At least they weren’t mealy or tasteless. They were sour. Some were even hard despite rosy cheeks. It meant that I didn’t use as many raw slices as I might have and that there was no alternative to cooking these fruits. Vabbè.

Apricot Glaze

1 or 2 fresh apricots depending on size, sliced
1 cup/125 ml water
2 soupspoons (or more) sugar
1 heaping soupspoon cornstarch

Put the apricots and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until soft and cooked through. Put through a sieve or a foodmill to get a smooth puree. Not whizzing them in a food processor means you dont need to peel them. Allow to cool completely.

In a similar small saucepan, mix the cornstarch (Maizena) and sugar. Gradually stir the apricot puree into it, stirring to avoid lumps. Taste and add sugar if needed. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to minimum, and stir constantly for one minute. Remove promptly from the heat.

Arrange whatever decorative pattern of fresh fruit on top of the cheesecake, and spoon this glaze over it all. This glaze is not meant to be hard and rubbery. I hate those commercial glazes that do that!

The rose I made by peeling a large apricot in one single strip, then rolling it into rose shape. Once glazed it stays and it will not turn brown.

The funny thing is that last time the cake cracked very severely down the middle. I can think of many reasons it did that, but it’s impossible to be completely sure it won’t happen again, so half my reason for glazing was to cover any ugly cracks and the other half was to make the dessert richer and prettier for my friend’s party. So this time it didn’t crack at all. I put that down to the fact that the oven cooled slower and that I didn’t crack the door as directed during the cooling hour. Your mileage may vary.

Anyway, I think it will be good even though I did minimal tasting, because the smell almost drove me to leave the house and bay at the moon.