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1
Place the dried apricots in a bowl, cover with cold water, and leave overnight so the fruit draws moisture all the way through to its centre, emerging plump, soft, and swollen rather than leathery. Drain, reserving every drop of the soaking liquid, which carries concentrated apricot flavour you will cook with. Crack each stone with a nutcracker or the flat of a heavy knife, extract the kernels, and set them aside.
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2
Transfer the soaked apricots and kernels to a heavy saucepan and add enough of the reserved soaking liquid to barely cover, so the cooking liquid itself tastes of apricot rather than diluting the compote. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the apricots completely fall apart and the mixture thickens to a cohesive compote with no discernible whole pieces remaining and no thin liquid pooling in the pan. This is where the dish lives or dies: whole apricots floating in thin liquid is an undercooked failure; the finished compote must hold its shape on a spoon.
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3
Add the sugar in small increments, stirring after each addition and tasting as you go, because the apricot's characteristic honeyed sourness must remain perceptible — the sugar corrects balance, it does not dominate. Stop adding sugar the moment the sharpness is smoothed rather than buried. The colour of the finished compote is a deep, burnished orange.
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4
Remove from heat and transfer the compote to a serving dish. Arrange the reserved kernels on the surface as garnish, so their slight roughness provides textural contrast against the smooth compote. Serve warm, with cold double cream or vanilla ice cream alongside.