Apricot Tempura With Coconut Ice Cream And Maple-And-Caramel Rum Sauce

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cold water
• Peanut oil for frying
• 8 apricots, mangoes or peaches, or 1 pineapple
• Confectioners' sugar
• Coconut ice cream or sherbet
• Mint for garnish

1. To make the sauce, caramelize the sugar by combining it with the water and stirring it carefully over a medium-high flame until the sugar starts melting.
2. Whisk in three-quarters of a cup of the heavy cream and the butter.
3. Add the maple syrup, the rum and the rest of the cream.
4. Put the liquid over a bain marie to cool, whisking constantly until it smooths down and the color lightens.
5. Refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.
6. You might have to stir it over heat before serving to remove any crystallization.
7. For the tempura, combine the flour, baking soda and salt with the water, whisking together.
8. Pass the mixture through a sieve.
9. Heat the peanut oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees.
10. Halve each apricot and then cut each half into three slices.
11. (If other fruit is used, cut into pieces of approximately the same size.)
12. Dip each apricot slice in the tempura batter and deep-fry.
13. Drain and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.
14. Serve five slices of apricot tempura on a plate, decorated with a pool of about three tablespoons of caramel sauce and two quenelles of ice cream or sherbet.
15. Decorate with fresh mint.

sugar, water, heavy cream, unsalted butter, maple syrup, dark rum, cake flour, baking soda, salt, cold water, peanut oil, mangoes, confectioners, coconut ice cream

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2706 (may not work)