glace apricot goof- any advice?

[yvetteski]

I was trying to make chocolate-dipped glace apricots using a recipe I found on line- dried apricots simmered in equal parts water, sugar and honey for 20 minutes and left to cool in the syrup.

First, the syrup was so hard that I had to heat the pan to get them out after cooling. Second, the apricots were not very tender. ( I used the apricots from a bag of Mariani Brand that I just got from Costco, so they started out fresh and tender, but did not get more tender.)
I fished them out and let them dry on a rack for several hours and they were still so sticky I abandoned the chocolate and tossed them in toasted coconut.

They taste okay, it is just that I know what the Australian ones taste like and it is not even close.

Anyone know why I failed?

Yvette

[Ernie Diamond]

Glaceed fruit is a very different animal altogether than dried. A glaceed apricot has been held at a controlled temperature in an increasingly concentrated syrup for several changes. This process can take days when done right.

I think that the recipe was deeply flawed to suggest that you could approximate a very involved and very delicate process by stewing a dried apricot in simple syrup. Almost certainly not your fault.

[bushwickgirl]

Agreed. Dried fruit is dried fruit and the OP actually could have dipped the dried apricots into the chocolate, with great results.
Glaceed fruit is an involved, although not difficult, process, that starts with fresh fruit and can take 10 days or so to complete.

[jmckee]

Absolutely true. They're a special breed that can't really be homemade. I just buy a box from Williams Sonoma before I make my chocolate champagne apricot truffles.