Ideas for candied fruit
PEAR AND CRYSTALLISED GINGER TART
50g butter
100g caster sugar
4 pears, cored and cut into 3cm pieces
200g crystallised ginger
lemon juice
8 sheets filo pastry
extra melted butter
extra caster sugar for dusting
Combine the butter and sugar in a hot frying pan and heat until golden. Add the pear pieces and cook until they are tender. Add the crystallised ginger, stir and add a dash of lemon juice.
Lay the filo sheets like the spokes of a wheel radiating from a roasting tin. Place the pears and ginger in the middle and fold the filo pastry over into a dome. Brush melted butter over each sheet of filo and sprinkle with extra caster sugar as you go. This is not a time to be timid with the butter. Bake in a moderate oven, 180 degrees/gas four, until it is golden and crispy. Serve with lots of cream.
CANDIED FRUIT TART
1 packet puff pastry
125g roughly chopped candied fruit (mandarins, pears, cherries, orange slices and citron peel)
175g butter
175 caster sugar
5 egg yolks
Roll the puff pastry out and cut it into a rectangle about 10cm x 23cm, about 6mm thick. Trim the edges with a sharp knife (this is necessary to allow it to rise) and then cut a strip about 1.5cm wide.
Brush the surface of the pastry with egg wash and then gently press the strips on to the sides of the rectangle to form a raised border. With a sharp knife make small vertical incisions at the sides of your box and then cut at a diagonal along the top surface of the border. All of this slicing helps to make the puff pastry rise.
Bake in a preheated oven 220 degrees/gas seven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200 degrees/gas six and continue to cook for 20 minutes.
Warm the butter and sugar in a saucepan until the granules have dissolved, then whisk in the egg yolks. Put the fruit into the tart and pour the egg mixture over the top. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees/gas four or until the egg sets and the tart has a golden crust.
A FRUIT(ISH) CAKE
170g butter
170g caster sugar
4 eggs
50g blanched almonds
170g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g raisins
100g chopped glace pears
100g currants
20g roughly chopped crystalised ginger
100g mixed fruit (preferably chopped by hand and including oranges, grapefruit, pineapple and dates)
2 tbsp brandy
Grind the almonds in a processor. It may seem like an unnecessary extra step, but the almond flavour is much fresher as a result. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees/gas two. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour and baking powder and sieve into the mixture. Stir to incorporate, then add the ground almonds.
Add the brandy and all the fruit and stir so everything is well mixed. Pour into a buttered and lined 18cm cake tin and bake for two and a half hours. Test with a skewer to see if it is done; it may need a little longer. Remove the cake from the oven, allow it to cool for 30 minutes and then turn it out.
OTHER IDEAS FOR ALL THAT CANDIED FRUIT