Khoshaf el Yameesh

• 1 1/2 pounds mixed dried fruit: dried apricots, prunes, pitted sour cherries, and raisins
• 1/2 cup blanched almonds, halved
• 1/2 cup blanched pistachio nuts or pine nuts or a mixture
• 1/31 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon rose water
• 1 tablespoon orange-blossom water

1. Wash the fruits if necessary, and put them all in a large bowl.
2. Mix with the nuts and cover with water.
3. Add sugar to taste, and rose and orange-blossom water.
4. Let the fruits soak for at least 48 hours.
5. The syrup becomes rich with the juices of the fruit and acquires a light-golden color.
6. A less common version is to add dried figs and peaches, and a few fresh pomegranate seeds.
7. Their luminosity brings out the rich orange, mauve, and brown of the fruit, and the white and green of the nuts.
8. Some people dissolve amareldine (sheets of dried, compressed apricot) in the water to thicken and enrich it.
9. Putting 3 soaked apricots through the food processor with a little water will achieve the same effect.
10. Instead of macerating, you can cook the fruit with the nuts and almonds.
11. Simmer gently for about 1/2 hour.
12. It becomes a compote.

sour cherries, blanched almonds, blanched pistachio nuts, sugar, water, orangeblossom water

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/khoshaf-el-yameesh-373573 (may not work)