Compote

NOUN- a dessert made of fruits cooked with sugar and or spices. 

Do you ever go and buy a few baskets of peaches, flats of strawberries/raspberries or too many pints of blueberries and have them sit on your counter…only to move them to the fridge to try and preserve them a little longer because you can’t possibly eat one more of the luscious little morsels????

I have a very simple solution to using up the fruit if jam making isn’t in the cards for the day they start to turn into over ripe mushiness.

Consider a compote.

I usually start by boiling some blueberries (about a cup) in 1/2 c. of water. Boil them just until they start to pop and the pot water turns a lovely purple. I add a tsp of lemon juice, a tbsp of white sugar and let it boil for a few minutes. In the meantime, mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of cold water and whisk till dissolved. Add this slowly to the hot fruit mixture stirring until it gets thick and translucent. Remove from the heat and add 4-5 cups of other fruit….cut strawberries, peaches, blackberries, raspberries etc. and mix till the fruit is coated. You can sprinkle some ginger or cinnamon in to add some flavour. Remove from the pot and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

I use this to top my plain yogurt in the morning, or to top cereal. It’s great for a healthy dessert, or with whipped cream on top.

Compotes have been around for centuries. Prior to our change to healthy eating, the fruit was boiled in a sugary syrup. Now you can get away with a tbsp or none if your fruit is sweet and ripe.

Enjoy!