Recipe
Serves 4 (6 for a light serve)
Christmas time is cherry time in Australia. This recipe is a spiced version of the classic Cherry Jubilee.
It’s an elegant and easy dessert to serve during the festive season, with the addition of a nutty, salty crumble topping that contrasts with the soft fruit and complements the spiced syrup. Serve it with a quality ice-cream - vanilla, lemon or caramel all work well. And for any left overs, spoon over your morning oats, or mix with soda for a refreshing summer drink.
Put sugar, spices, orange peel and juice in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the cherries and liqueur, then bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. The syrup will thicken as it cools. Cherries can be prepared up to a day ahead, keep chilled in air-tight container in fridge. Bring to room temperature when serving.
For the crumble, pre-heat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a small food processor, coarsely chop the almonds. Add the remaining crumble ingredients and blitz for 5 seconds to mix thoroughly, there’ll be small chunks of nuts and butter. Alternatively, chop the nuts, add to a bowl with the remaining crumble ingredients and using fingertips rub the butter into dry ingredients. Spread crumble mix over lined tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
When ready to serve, to assemble, divide half of the cherries between serving glasses. Top each with a scoop of ice-cream or dollop of cream, then spoon over remaining cherries and a drizzle of syrup. Scatter the crumble over and serve immediately.
There’ll be poaching syrup left over. Store in a screw top jar in the fridge for up to a week. For a refreshing drink, add 2 tablespoons of syrup into a, ice filled glass and pour over soda.
Any left-over crumble store in an air tight container and use within two weeks.
Ingredients
75g caster sugar
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
Peel from half an orange, white pith removed
¼ cup (60ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
500g ripe cherries, pitted (or use 500g pitted frozen cherries)
2 tablespoons Cointreau (or similar liqueur)
Double cream or Ice cream, to serve
Crumble:
50g (1/3 cup) blanched almonds
1 tablespoon brown sugar
35g (¼ cup) plain flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
25g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
