fruit – My Whisk and I

Honeyed quince

May 25, 2025by Karen Claassen1 Comment

60ml sugar
500ml water
4 cloves
2 star anise
4 quinces
half a lemon
60ml honey

Pour the sugar and water into a smallish saucepan and place it over a high heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and bring the liquid to the boil.
Add the cloves and star anise.
Peel and halve the quinces and rub them with the lemon to stop them browning.
Lower the quince into the poaching liquid and allow to simmer until they are soft enough to pierce easily. This should take around 25 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line an oven dish with baking paper.
Lift the quince out of the poaching liquid and arrange them on the oven dish.
Pour 150ml of the poaching liquid into a bowl and mix in the honey.
Pour this over the quince and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Serve the quince with their cooking juices.

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Blood Orange Cordial

August 20, 2024August 19, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

the zest of 3 oranges
1 litre freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
500ml sugar
4 bay leaves

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan placed over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Turn the heat down to low and simmer the mixture for one hour – you want a syrupy consistency.
Cool the liquid completely and strain into a glass bottle.
Serve the cordial over ice and sparkling water.
Store in the refrigerator.

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Pear and Honey Cake

May 21, 2024May 20, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

3 pears
125ml sugar
45ml water
220g butter
340g honey
190ml cultured buttermilk
3 eggs
150g sugar
5ml vanilla
300g flour
10ml baking powder
5ml ground cinnamon
2,5ml ground mixed spice
10ml salt

Preheat your oven to 170℃ and spray the sides of a fixed-bottom cake tin with cooking spray.
Peel the pears and slice them into 8 wedges each.
Arrange the wedges on the bottom of the cake tin and set aside.
Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan set over medium heat.
Do not stir but swirl the mixture from time-to-time until you have a caramel.
Remove from the heat and pour the syrup over the pear wedges in the cake tin. Set aside.
Add the butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat and gently simmer it for 5 minutes or so.
Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl and add the honey, buttermilk, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Whisk the mixture together.
Now sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt. Mix until you have a smooth batter.
Pour the cake batter onto the pears wedges and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Remove the cake from the oven and invert it onto a plate – leave the upturned cake tin for a few minutes before removing it.
Serve the cake with a dollop of cream, ice cream or yoghurt.

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Milk Jelly Clementines

May 18, 2024May 16, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

3-5 clementines
28g powdered gelatine
375ml milk
60ml sugar

Peel the clementines and bead them onto a chopstick – you need something that will keep them atop each other.
Place them in a container that allows about 1cm on the diameter.
You may ‘stabilise’ the clementines with two horizontal dowels so that you can pour the gelatine mixture around it.
Add the gelatine, milk and sugar to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar and gelatine has dissolved.
Pour around the oranges and leave to cool before refrigerating until set.
Place the container in a bowl with very hot water for 30 seconds and immediately invert onto a chopping board.
Slice and serve.

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Quince Leather

May 7, 2024April 25, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Follow the recipe as for the Membrillo.

Preheat your oven to 50℃.

Line a large baking sheet(s) with baking paper.
Pour the blitzed quince on to the paper and spread it out, about 3mm thick and as evenly as you can.
Place in the oven to dry for 7 – 8 hours. The fruit will remain slightly sticky when it is ready.
Once out of the oven, cool completely before rolling and slicing.

Store the quince wrapped in baking paper in a dry, well ventilated area.

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Membrillo / Quince Cheese

April 30, 2024April 24, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1kg quince, weighed after peeling, coring
750g white sugar
30ml lemon juice
250ml water

Line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper and set aside.
Peel, core and dice the quince into 2cm chunks.
Add the sugar, lemon and water too a saucepan set over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the quince, turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook for 1 hour, stirring every now and then.
Take the saucepan from the heat and blitz the mixture with an immersive blender.
Pour into the prepared baking tin and smooth the top.
Set aside to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 48 hours.
Invert the membrillo on to a chopping board and slice.
Serve the membrillo on a cheese board and store wrapped in baking paper (not plastic!) in the refrigerator for three months.

Old fashioned quince sweets:
Cut the membrillo into bite-sized pieces and roll it in white, granulated sugar before serving.

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Passionfruit Cream

April 25, 2024April 22, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

600ml milk
80ml caster sugar
3 eggs, separated
6 passionfruits
45ml gelatine powder

Syrup:
125ml caster sugar
pulp of 4 passionfruit

Pour the milk and caster sugar into a small saucepan and set it over medium-high heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and bring the mixture to just under boiling point.
Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add the egg yolks to a heatproof bowl and whisk together.
Drizzle the hot milk mixture into the yolks while whisking continuously.
Place the bowl over a saucepan with simmering water and stir with a wooden spoon for about 7 minutes or so. The mixture is ready when it very lightly coats the back of the wooden spoon.
Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside for a few minutes.
Set a sieve over a bowl and scoop the passionfruit into it. Press down on the seeds to extract the juice.
Stir the juice into the custard mixture and set aside again.
Pour 100ml HOT water into a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Stir to dissolve.
Add the gelatine mixture to the custard and stir through. Set aside.
Add the egg whites to a clean mixing bowl and whisk to stiff peaks.
Add the whites to the custard and gently fold through.
Divide the mixture between 6 bowls/glasses and refrigerate for one hour, until set.

Syrup:
Pour 125ml water and the 125ml caster sugar into a small saucepan and place over a low heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until syrupy – about 3 minutes or so.
Remove from the heat and stir in the passionfruit pulp.
Allow the syrup to cool and refrigerate until cold.

Pour the syrup on the passionfruit cream and serve.

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Pear, Date and Walnut Salad

March 24, 2024March 23, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

3-4 pears
6-8 dates
50g walnuts
100g gorgonzola/blue cheese, broken up into chunks
150g rocket leaves

Dressing:
half a red onion, very finely chopped
15ml red wine vinegar
15ml Dijon mustard
15ml cold water
45ml olive oil

Slice the pears into 3-4mm thick slices and arrange them on a serving platter, overlapping slightly.
Cut the dates into quarters and scatter evenly over the pears.
Scatter the walnuts over as well as the blue cheese.
Top the salad with the rocket leaves.

For the dressing:
Add the onion, vinegar, mustard and water to a small bowl and whisk together.
Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until all is incorporated and the dressing is amalgamated.

Dress the salad with the vinaigrette and serve.

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Kale and Quinoa Salad

February 8, 2024February 7, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

125ml uncooked quinoa, prepared according to the packet instructions and cooled down
250ml thinly sliced kale
250ml thinly sliced baby spinach
2 red apples, cut into sticks/julienned
100g goat cheese, crumbled
60ml flaked almonds

Dressing:
60ml apple cider vinegar
30ml honey
15ml Dijon mustard
60ml olive oil

Add the quinoa, kale, spinach, apple, goat cheese and almonds to a large salad bowl and set aside.
Add the apple cider vinegar, honey and mustard to a small bowl and drizzle in the oil while whisking continuously.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix through to serve.

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Poached Pear on Yoghurt

January 28, 2024January 27, 2024by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1,5litres water
60ml lemon juice
a small bunch of thyme, tied together with string
6 small pears
500ml greek yoghurt
200ml honey
a handful of pistachio nuts, chopped

Prepare your poaching liquid by adding the water, lemon juice and thyme to a saucepan that is just big enough for the pears to fit in.
Peel the pears and place them, standing upright, into the liquid. Add more water if the pears are not immersed in the liquid.
Bring the poaching liquid to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer.
Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stand the pears in the liquid for another 20 minutes.
Scoop the yoghurt onto 6 plates/bowls and place a pear on top.
Drizzle the honey over each fruit and scatter the pistachio on top.
Serve warm or cold.