A tasty treat with a spicy kick.
Ingredients
- 700 g sugar, (demerara is great for this recipe)
- 300 ml water
- 2 eating apples (peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices)
- 4 pears (peeled, cored and cut into quarters)
- 2 strips of lemon zest (you can use a veg peeler for this)
- spices: 3 cloves, 4 black peppercorns crushed, ½ tsp freshly ground cassia, 2 green cardamom pods crushed, 1 tsp powdered ginger, grating of nutmeg and small pinch of ground blade mace
- 3 clementines (segmented)
- 1 tub of frozen vanilla yoghurt or crème fraîche to serve.
Method
- Pour the sugar and water into a thick bottomed pan, stir to combine, then pop onto a medium flame.
- Allow the sugar to ‘melt’, swirling the pan from time to time, not stirring then add the spices, strips of zest and gently swirl the pan a little more.
- Add the apples and pears and cover with a piece of greaseproof paper (a cartouche if we’re using the official term!). Turn the heat down to a gentle, but constant ‘bubbling’.
- Allow the fruits to soften and become translucent, maybe about 10 to 15 minutes; just so there’s no resistance when you poke them with the point of a sharp knife.
- Grab a slotted spoon, remove the fruits, place them on a handy plate to rest, turn the heat up under the pan and reduce the syrup by half.
- Next, carefully pour the syrup through a sieve, discard the spices, zest; return to the pan and gently heat.
- Pop the cooked pears and apples back into the liquid and bring back up to a warm temperature.
- Finally add the Clementine segments to the pan, give one gentle stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (trying not to break up the fruits) and turn off the heat.
- Serve immediately into your favourite, comfort dessert bowls, spoon in a couple of generous dollop of the frozen yoghurt and tuck in.
Notes
Arun's Tips: It is possible to make frozen yoghurt, but this dessert is all about simplicity, flavour from the fruits and spices, hot and cold combinations; not overly complicating things!
