I stumbled across a variety of fruit the other day at the store. The sign said they were Black Velvet Apricots, and my ears perked up. Apricots are one of my favorite stone fruits – they’re the perfect size for a snack, and I can literally tear them in half with my fingers and remove the pit without my hands getting covered in juice. And you know me, I’m a sucker for never-before-seen produce items! So I bagged up 5 of these Black Velvet Apricots and brought ‘em home.
If they look like plums, it’s because they are. Well, they’re half-plum and half-apricot – a hybrid, just like pluots, apriums, and plumcots are all hybrids (angelcots, meanwhile, are hybrids of two different apricot species). This blog post has a lot of great Black Velvet Apricot information – so definitely check it out.
The look like plums, with a slight fuzz on the outside, but the Black Velvet Apricot has a surprise on the inside…
…golden, orange-yellowish, apricot-colored flesh!
These mofos were juicy. One bite and my fingers were dripping. They were delicious – bright and sweet, and mine were perfectly ripe, to the point where they almost seemed to melt. Despite their coloring, they definitely tasted more plum-like, as opposed to apricot-like.
The skin, while thin, was pretty strong. For a couple of my Black Velvet Apricots, I took one bite and the entire skin came off, leaving a ball of flesh behind.
By the end, I was popping them in my mouth whole, as a mess-avoidance tactic!
Black Velvet Apricots definitely fall into the “buy again at once” column… I hope I see them next time I go to the store!
Keep it up, David!
I’m going to try to find these!
Great, now I have that Alannah Myles song stuck in my head.
Don’t lie. It’s been in your all head week. And… when was the last time you watched the video? HOT! Refresh your memory here.