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Combo compote: Enjoy summer fruit favorites without turning on the oven

Recipe: Easy apricot-cherry compote cooks on top of the stove

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 22, 2025

Apricots and cherries cook in a fruit-based syrup. The resulting compote can be used in a variety of dishes. Debbie Arrington

Apricots and cherries are both early summer treasures – and a naturally perfect combo. Put them together in this easy compote that doubles as a tangy, fruity sauce.

Apricots and cherries come into season together
and are delicious paired in compote.

Instead of baking in the oven (and heating up the house), the fruit simmers in syrup on top of the stove. Simmer until very soft or just barely cooked, whatever your preference.

This recipe is very flexible. Use all apricots or all cherries or a mixture of both. (For this version, I used 6 apricots and 18 cherries to make up the 1 pound of fruit.)

Dried cranberries or raisins add some chewy texture plus more bites of sweetness, contrasting with the natural tartness of the cherries and apricots. The dash of salt also helps accent the syrup’s sweetness, making it taste just a little bit sweeter.

Instead of typical vanilla, almond extract is a great complement to the stone fruit. (They’re all from the same family.)

Besides flexibility in ingredients, this fruity mixture is versatile in the ways it can be enjoyed. Warm or cold, use it to top vanilla ice cream, plain cake or yogurt. Or top the compote with a dollop of whipped cream or some crunchy granola (or both).

Naturally tangy, apricot-cherry compote also can be used as an accompaniment to savory entrees such as grilled chicken or pork.

This compote can be made in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. It also freezes well, so you can enjoy a taste of early summer all year long.

Easy apricot-cherry compote

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup water

½ cup pureed apricots and/or cherries

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Dash of salt

1 pound apricots and/or cherries, pitted and sliced (about 3 cups)

2 tablespoons dried cranberries or raisins

½ teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

Compote and ice cream make a perfect
summer dessert.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar and water. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Stir in pureed apricots and/or cherries, lemon juice and a dash of salt. Cook 1 minute more.

Remove from heat and strain syrup through a sieve to remove excess pulp. Return syrup to pan.

Add prepared apricots and/or cherries and dried cranberries or raisins. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit begins to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Cook a few minutes longer for softer fruit, if desired.

Remove pan from heat and stir in almond extract.

Serve warm or cold.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes compote stone fruit apricots cherries compote dessert breakfast summer June farmers markets backyard produce produce management Sacramento gardening

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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