Spiced Poached Clementines

Spiced Poached Clementines

This pudding is stunningly beautiful. Using the star anise to garnish gives a beautifully festive feel which combined with the jewel-like pomegranate seeds and the glistening clementines provides not only a feast for the stomach but one for the eyes as well.

Ingredients

4 clementines

150ml red wine

100g caster sugar

1 piece cassia bark

2 whole star anise

2 cardamom pods

4tbs pomegranate seeds to serve

4tbs clotted cream to serve

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg to serve

Method

Place the red wine, sugar and spices into a pan with 150ml hot water and bring to a gentle simmer.

Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, remove all the skin and pith from the clementines. You aren’t trying to peel the clementines as if you would eat them; you want to remove the outside membrane as well so that the juicy flesh is visible.

Once the sugar has dissolved into the liquid, gently lower in the prepared clementines along with a piece or two of the orange skin you removed to add extra flavour. Gently poach the celementines in the liquid for about 8 minutes until tender. Remove the clementines from the liquid and set aside.

Turn up the heat in the pan and reduce the poaching liquor until thickened slightly to a more syrupy consistency. Remove the clementine skin, cardamom pods and cassia bark.

Place the clementines onto your serving plates, drizzle over a spoonful or two of the poaching syrup, sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds. Top with a star anise pod on each plate.

Mix together the clotted cream and nutmeg and put an artfully placed dollop on each plate and serve.

Shopping guide

Elsey & Bent is the place to go for your clementines and then make tracks to Spice Mountain to browse and pick up the spices for this dish.