- 250ml/8¾fl oz white wine
- 1 orange, halved
- vanilla pod
- 55g/2oz caster sugar
- 1 apricot, halved and stone removed
- 284ml/½ pint double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds only
- 1 lemon, juice and zest only
- 2 fresh mint sprigs, to garnish
- For the apricots, heat the wine in a deep saucepan to reduce slightly for 3-4 minutes. Squeeze over the orange juice and add the squeezed orange halves to the pan.
- Using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod. Set aside half of the seeds and add the pod and half the seeds to the pan.
- Add the sugar and let it dissolve then add the apricot halves. Simmer for five minutes, then take the pan off the heat and allow the apricots to cool.
- Meanwhile, for the syllabub, whisk together the double cream with the reserved vanilla seeds until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed from the cream.
- Add the juice and zest of the lemon and the icing sugar. Fold together gently.
- Spoon the cream mixture into two tall dessert glasses and top each with a sprig of mint and half a poached apricot.