Soups & Starters
Puddings & Desserts
Chocolate, amaretti and apricot dessert
Silky smooth chocolate mousse with a layer of apricot purée and a biscuit base
This is a super-easy dessert to make, but it tastes amazing… Inspiration for it first struck when I was ‘grazing’ in the kitchen one afternoon and nibbled on a dried apricot followed by a square of dark chocolate - they’re a lovely pairing! It’s almost worth buying a bottle of Disarrano liqueur to use in the recipe if you don’t already have it - the almondy notes are perfect with the apricots and, of course, pick up on the flavour of the amaretti biscuits in the base too. I actually find it a really useful liqueur to have in the kitchen - I splash it into all sorts of puds to make them taste extra special!
You could almost (but not quite) call this a healthy dessert as not only does it give you one of your five-a-day, it uses fat-free Greek yogurt. Full-fat yogurt would just be too rich here. And in fact as it is still a very rich dessert, I prefer to serve it in fairly small dishes - or you could make it in one big serving dish and let everyone help themselves.
Ingredients
Serves 1
- For each person (quantities are easily multiplied):
- 8 dried apricots
- 4 tbsp Disaranno almond liqueur (or white wine)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 4 amaretti biscuits (or digestives)
- 15g butter, melted
- 4 squares dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp 0% fat Greek yogurt
- Flaked almonds, to scatter, toasted
Method
First, put the apricots in a small pan with the liqueur or white wine, lemon juice and 2 tbsp boiling water (this should be enough liquid to just cover the fruit). Slowly bring to the boil, then simmer gently with the lid on until the apricots are soft (about 15 mins).
Meanwhile, put the amaretti or digestive biscuits into a small, sealable bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have fairly fine crumbs. Mix with the melted butter and spoon into the bottom of individual serving dishes.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water then turn off the heat but, with the pan still over the hot water, stir in the yogurt.
Purée the apricots and their cooking liquid using a stick blender or mini food processor, then spoon them onto the biscuit base. Top with the chocolate mousse and a scattering of toasted almonds.
A Cook's Plot Tip
When you stir the yogurt into the melted chocolate, be sure to leave the pan over the hot water as you do it, otherwise the sudden addition of the cold yogurt may cause the chocolate to 'seize' (become hard)