Servings:

4-6 depending on portion size

Ingredients

Apricot Brioche
1 egg
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 x 250g mascarpone cheese
8 oz brioche, slices about half an inch thick from a loaf
2 cans of apricot halves, drained
about 4 tablespoons demerara sugar
icing sugar for dusting

Apricot and Amaretti ice cream

12 oz good quality apricot jam
2 tablespoons lemon juice
half a pint of double cream
10 ox amaretti biscuits

Method

Apricot Brioche
Grease an ovenproof shallow sided dish about 11 inches in diameter. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas 4

1. Whisk the egg and caster sugar together in a bowl. Add mascarpone and whisk again until smooth and unlumpy.

2. Arrange the brioche slices as neatly as possible in a single layer on the dish, and spread the mascarpone mixture over the slices to cover them to about 1 cm from the edge. It spreads during cooking.

3. Arrange the apricot halves neatly in circles over the top, right to the edge of the dish. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

4. Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 to 35 minutes until the custard is set and golden

Serve with the ice-cream:

Apricot and Amaretti ice cream
Beat the jam with the lemon juice. Whip the cream and fold into the jam. Fold in the amaretti biscuits, crumbled. Spoon into a freezer container and freeze.