You should always buy apricots when they are ripe. Therefore, make sure that the fruit is golden yellow in color, has a pleasant scent and that the fruit gives slightly when pressed lightly. Unripe apricots will not ripen at home. They are relatively dry and remain tasteless. In addition, a ripe fruit is easier to skin.
How to skin apricots?
To skin apricots, make a cross-shaped cut at the base of the stem, blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, rinse them in ice-cold water and then remove the peel. Then remove brown spots and the stone.
Skinning apricots – step by step
If apricots are eaten raw, you should not remove the peel because most of the minerals and vitamins are located just under the skin. The fiber is also good for digestion. It is enough if you wash the fruit thoroughly before eating. When cooking and baking, it makes sense to remove the peel as the dishes have a finer appearance.
- First, heat water in a large pot.
- Cut the apricot crosswise at the base of the stem. To do this, use a pointed, sharp knife. Try not to penetrate too deeply into the pulp.
- Once the water boils, put the fruit in it.
- Leave the apricots in the water for a maximum of one to two minutes and then remove them with a slotted spoon.
- Immediately soak the fruit in ice-cold water. This will quickly interrupt the cooking process and prevent the apricots from becoming too soft.
- Blanching has loosened the peel of the fruit and can now be peeled off piece by piece with a knife as soon as the apricots have completely cooled down.
- Now cut out any brown spots from the pulp.
- Halve the fruit and remove the stone.
Using skinned apricots
The skinned apricots are best processed immediately, for example placed on a cake base or stirred into the curd cream of a cheesecake. The delicious fruits look much finer, especially when baked without skin, and also have more sweetness than unpeeled apricots. Skinned apricots are also used in the kitchen, for example as an apricot skewer with sage for lamb chops or in curry rice with apricot pieces. There are no limits to your imagination.
