Poached summer fruits in vanilla cinnamon syrup

SERVES 8

PREPARATION TIME 20 minutes (+ cooling)

COOKING TIME 50 minutes

550 g (1 lb 4 oz/2½ cups) caster (superfine) sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthways and seeds scraped (pic 1)

2 cinnamon sticks

125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) brandy

4 firm, ripe freestone peaches, quartered and stones removed

4 large firm, ripe freestone plums, halved and stones removed

6 firm, ripe apricots, halved and stones removed

400 g (14 oz) cherries, pitted

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

1 Combine the sugar with 1.25 litres (44 fl oz/5 cups) water in a large saucepan. Add the vanilla bean and seeds, cinnamon sticks and brandy. Stir over medium–low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer, then simmer for 5 minutes.

2 Add the peaches and plums and simmer very gently over medium–low heat for 5–6 minutes or until the fruits soften slightly (pic 2). Add the apricots and cherries. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook for 4–5 minutes or until the all the fruits have softened, making sure the apricots and plums don’t collapse.

3 Use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer all the fruit to a tray or large dish (pic 3). Bring the cooking liquid to a boil, then boil gently over medium heat for 15–20 minutes or until thickened slightly and reduced by about half. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature (refrigerate to reduce the cooling time if you like).

4 Pour the syrup over the fruit and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

TIP This dessert will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

The recipe can easily be halved to serve 4.