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Spiced Autumn Fruit

This is a really flexible dish that is so simple you can pretty much make it up as you go along. All we are doing is gently stewing fruit with some sugar and spices. It doesn’t need loads of cooking, can be ready to eat in about 20 minutes and the most difficult part is peeling the apples!

The finished fruit is great as a hot dessert just with some ice cream, as a filling for a crumbled or pie or eaten for breakfast to liven up your cereal.

I am suggesting some fruit to use but if you have some pears you can always use those in place of, or in addition to, the apples. Likewise, no plums? Go for some more blackberries. If you still have the last of your raspberries in the garden, add them too. The key thing is just to taste the dish. If it is too sharp add some more sugar, too sweet, add another squeeze of lemon.

If you are not a confident cook just keep tasting and adding a little sugar or lemon until you think it is right for your personal taste. You may be full before you even sit down to dinner, but hopefully you have had fun a learned something!

These ingredients should make enough for 4 desserts served with some ice cream or Crème Fraiche.

Ingredients
2 new season UK apples (they will be sharper, firmer and tastier than any imported ones at this time of year)
2 good handfuls of blackberries (about 200g)
2 plums
1 good tablespoon of Vanilla Sugar
1 cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoons ground ginger
1 star anise
a pinch of ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves

Peel, core and chop your apples into bite sized pieces and pop into a pan along with about 5 tablespoons (50ml) of water. Add a good tablespoon of the vanilla sugar and a squeeze of lemon, give a gentle stir around and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the fruit is just starting to soften. Keep an eye on the fruit whilst it is cooking, stirring occasionally.

Then add in your blackberries, plums or any other seasonal soft fruit.

Now for the spice, add 1 cinnamon stick, ¼ of a teaspoon of ginger, 1 star anise, pinch of cloves and the pinch of nutmeg.

Give the mixture a gentle stir, re-cover and simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until the apples & pears are soft but have not completely dissolved.

The fruit is now ready to enjoy. If you are eating it straight away take the star anise and cinnamon out. If I am saving it to have another day (it is great for breakfast), I tend to leave the cinnamon in, it will continue to flavour the fruit and is easy enough to see so you are unlikely to serve it to anyone by mistake!

If you come up with any really good variations on this recipe let us know, we may share it in our next newsletter.