Summer fever has officially taken over in this house, school is out, humidity is high, plants are blooming, and pool days are here.   My favorite weekend outing is going to the water parks and taking a spin on the Lazy River.  We can spend hours just floating in an inner tube getting lost in day dreams.  Nothing like it. And as afternoons slip away it leads us to evening meals on the fly.

Gingered Black Velvet Apricots over Angel Food Cake

This weekend after a quick, big salad for dinner, it left us wanting dessert.  I picked up some stone fruit at the market earlier, including a few plump, juicy Black Velvet Apricots, which would go perfectly with the Angel Food Cake we had earlier this week.  And to spice it up I used the ginger that Sir Wes had pulled up last week from our ginger plant to make a simple syrup.  When we hijacked the plant from his mom’s yard last summer, I knew that we would make good use out of it. 

This à la minute dessert was so easy, and would work well with any fresh fruit you have in the fridge.  Just toss about 3 tablespoons per cup of fruit and pour over you favorite cake, sponge, angel food cake, or even by itself.

Ginger Simple Syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 inches of ginger root, rough chopped

In a small saute pan add sugar, water and ginger.  Bring to a slow simmer over a moderate heat, allowing the ginger to cook into the syrup.  Allow to simmer for 2 minutes and then remove from heat.  Allow to steep for 15 minutes before straining the ginger out.  Refrigerate until cool. 

Makes about 1 /4 up and can be kept in refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

Sweet Apricots with a Kick of Ginger

And as a bonus…this simple syrup works great in summer cocktails.

Cheers!