Roasted Apricots with Rosemary

Topped with a honeyed yogurt cream, these baked apricots make for a lovely summer dessert.

Ingredients:
10 apricots, washed and dried
3 large sprigs rosemary
½ vanilla pod (reserve the other half for the serving cream)
Zest of 1 orange
½ cup orange juice (from roughly 2 oranges)
3 tablespoons honey
¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Honeyed yogurt cream:
1 cup Greek yogurt
½ cup heavy cream
Seeds from ½ vanilla pod
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the apricots in half (leave the pit in – it looks nice and helps to keep the fruit from collapsing completely) and arrange, cut-side up on a baking dish large enough to accommodate them in one layer. Tuck the rosemary sprigs, ½ vanilla pod and the orange peel in and around the apricots, then pour the orange juice all over to moisten the apricots.

2. Drizzle honey all over and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, basting and gently shaking the baking dish from time to time to make sure the fruit doesn’t burn. The apricots are done when they are soft but have not collapsed completely.

3. To make the yogurt honey cream, combine all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip until soft waves form. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

4. Transfer the apricots onto serving plates and drizzle over the sticky juices. Dollop a large spoonful of the yogurt honey cream on the side and scatter the toasted almonds on top.