Poached fruit with red wine syrup
Stunningly pink, light and complex, this dessert is easy to make, but has a big impact. Serve the poached fruit on its own with a side of biscotti, over ice cream with chopped nuts or with strained yogurt, flavoured with honey and vanilla. And make sure to save the leftover sweet and slightly bitter syrup for mocktails and cocktails.
Ingredients
Poaching liquid
- 2½ cups water
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1- inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced into several pieces
- Lemon peel from ¼ lemon
Fruit
- 2 pears, peeled, cored and cut in quarters
- 2 black plums, cut in half, pits removed
- 2 black figs, cut in quarters
- 2 slices of pink grapefruit
- ¼ cup red wine
- 2 pieces of star anise
Instructions
- Add the poaching liquid ingredients into a medium-sized pot and warm over medium-low heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the pears and simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the plums and continue cooking another 10 minutes or until the pears are cooked through (you can check them by piercing them with a small knife). Once the fruit is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and add the grapefruit (the more slices you add, the more bitter it will become) and the figs. Let cool to room temperature in the pot, then remove 1½ cups of the poaching liquid and pour it into a small pot. Add the red wine and star anise. Place the small pot over medium-low heat and reduce until ⅓ cup remains. Pour the red wine syrup into a clean jar and let cool.
- The fruit can be eaten right away or kept in the refrigerator to serve later.
- To serve, remove the fruit from the poaching liquid and drizzle with red wine syrup.
