COOK'S CLASS

 GLAZED APPLES AND PEARS

Apples and pears are great soulmates yet cooks, strangely enough, seldom think of combining them. Baked together in a light buttery-orange sauce  they make an elegant but easy dessert. For an added twist, accompany the dessert with a frozen slice of mascarpone and blue cheese.

This combination of cheeses is a divine duo that combined with the slowly baked

INGREDIENTS: 
4 full flavoured apples
4 large pears
juice of ½ lemon
1 cup sugar
juice of 3-4 large oranges or 1½ cups commercial fresh orange juice
zest of ½ an orange
1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
2 drops almond essence
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons finely sliced fresh ginger root 
2 teaspoons butter
Serves 6-8

You will need: cutting board, sharp knife, apple corer, orange squeezer, large but shallow ovenware dish, miniature non-stick loaf pan, spatula

STAGE 1:
Choose full-flavoured apples and pears that will retain their shape when baked. Granny smith, golden delicious and braeburn are good apple varieties and beurre bosc, packham's triumph, winter nellis and winter cole are reliable cooking pears.

Peel, core and halve apples horizontally. Peel and halve pears, retaining the stalk on one half. Remove the hard core in the centre of each pear.

For a smooth finish when peeling fruits use a potato peeler with a fine swivel blade.

 

 

STAGE 2:
To prevent fruit from turning brown after slicing, place it in a bowl of water with a good squeeze of lemon juice. Drain thoroughly before using.

Although it is best to use freshly squeezed orange juice you can use a top quality store-bought juice. 

Arrange the apples and pears in a single layer in an ovenware dish in neat rows.

 

STAGE 3:
Mix half the sugar with the orange juice, orange zest, vanilla seeds and almond essence. Pour over fruit. Place vanilla bean, cinnamon sticks and ginger in between fruit. 

Sprinkle with remaining sugar and dot with butter to enrich and slightly thicken the juice as well as adding gloss.

Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes until the fruit has softened but is still holding its shape. 

Baste fruit with juices a place under a grill until the tops of the fruits are glazed and lightly charred. Allow to cool before serving.

 

STAGE 4:
To prepare the frozen cheese duo: Choose a yielding, full-flavoured blue cheese - nothing too sharp or astringent. Mascarpone and blue cheese are a fabulous marriage. 

Fill a small non-stick loaf pan with layers of mascarpone and crumbled blue cheese, ending with mascarpone. You will need 200 ml mascapone and 75 g blue cheese. Cover with wax paper and aluminium foil to insulate thoroughly. Freeze for 24 hours before serving. 

To unmould, wrap pan with a hot cloth for 10 seconds then invert. Serve immediately. 

 

To present the dessert, either spoon the fruit into wide, shallow soup plates and serve with spoonfuls of chilled thick cream or place an apple slice on a flat plate, top with a pear half and spoon over a little syrup. Place a slice of the frozen cheese duo on the side.