Once Upon an Apricot Scone

The apricots I bought last week at the Union Square Farmers market were so succulent they inspired me to hunt for a recipe worthy of them.  I found it, in the delightful cookbook from the chefs and owners of Once Upon a Tart, a fantastic pastry shop and cafe in New York.  The owners/chefs/authors Frank Mentasana and Jerome Audureau have compiled a delectable collection of some of their classics from the shop into Once Upon a Tart...Soups, Salads, Muffins and More. This book is incredible, with phenomenal recipes, so rather than give this one for Dried Apricot Scones with Pecans and Shredded Coconut to you free on this blog I am going to suggest you just buy the cookbook.  It should be on every cook's shelf. 

The only significant change I made to the recipe was to use fresh apricots rather than dried.  In my opinion, it only made them better by having a juicy morsel in every bite.  See how gorgeous my apricots were, straight home from the market.

I suppose making these scones with the fresh ones have tainted this recipe for me forever-- only fresh will do.  But there are so many other recipes in the book to try, I will stay busy until apricots are fully in season again anyway.

While making the scones, at one point you whisk the apricots, pecans and coconut into wet ingredients. While I was preparing for that step, I chopped the apricots and pecans and put them in a small bowl and then added the coconut.  It looked so lovely, I thought I should share this photo with you too.

I thought these scones would be too sweet or rich, but they are not.  They're exquisite and completely scrumptious.  We had them in the late morning, with a freshly brewed pot of Early Grey and chamomile tea.  My husband and I like mixing our teas to come up with interesting combinations.  We each had one scone and split a third.  We didn't eat again until 9:00 that evening and weren't even hungry.  In the cookbook the introduction to this recipe calls them the "energy bar of scones".  Indeed.  These are fantastic; make them now before fresh apricots are gone.

Comments

[Ivonne]

Oh ... my ... goodness! Where have you been all my life? This blog is gorgeous!

Isn't Once Upon a Tart one of the best cookbooks! It's constantly inspiring to me.

Beautiful scones!

[Stephanie Beack]

Ivonne, Welcome! So happy you like my blog, especially since yours is so good too!! The scones were simply divine, if you haven't tried that recipe yet, do yourself a favor and make them soon. I'm very thrilled to have you at my table on Scrumptious Street.

[elisabeth korn]

the fresh apricots look like sunshine on a plate and i can taste the chewy prize on the inside just reading. i'm also a fan of roasted beets but in a pinch will saute which makes them yummy for salads with less work, different flavor but good. the eggplant dish my mom had a hit with is called ratatouille provancale from 'the joy of cooking.' she tripled the amount of onions in the recipe and didn't skin or see the tomatoes. it is a veg meal and my dad felt it needed some meat to give it more of what he was looking for in his din din and so next time, mom served with it some pulled pork that she made from left over braized pork chops and they are still remembering the deliciousness. mom said the ratatouille was just plain tasty. i'm practically converted to liking eggplant just from hearing them wax on about it.

[Stephanie Beack]

Elisabeth, Welcome to Scrumptious Street!

Thanks for all the info, you're commenting on about 3 of my posts! LOL. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the ratatouille provencale...sounds delish.

[Kat]

I just wanted to tell you how gorgeous these apricots are! I really appreciate fresh ingredients, and your site is wonderful. Glad I found you.

[Stephanie Beack]

Hi Kat, welcome to Scrumptious Street! I too, am glad you found my site. These apricots were as succulent as they look, I can't wait until I can get my hands on more this year.