Baked Spiced Clementines - Serves 4
If clementines are not in season, choose another type of easy peeler like mandarins or satsumas. Instead of vanilla and star anise, you can also use cinnamon, rosemary, liquorice or lavender.
A tip fromJean-Christophe
This dish always reminds me of Christmas and, indeed, it is best made with slightly overripe clementines, the ones no one ever eats in the overflowing fruit bowl at Christmas. It makes a great breakfast dish (omitting the alcohol), but you can also serve it as a dessert with icecream. Remember that you can eat the skins, too, as they have been blanched and dewaxed.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to its maximum.
2. Blanch the clementines in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Pierce the top of each and insert 1 piece of vanilla pod and 1 star anise. Dust with the icing sugar.
3. When the oven has been at its maximum for 10 minutes, switch it off. Gently place the clementines on a wire rack in a baking tray and put into the oven, which will still be very hot. Leave to bake or ‘confit’ overnight, or for at least 12 hours.
4. When the clementines are ‘confited’ they can be kept in the fridge until you need them.When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 4. If you are serving the clementines at dinner for a dessert, make a hole in the top and spoon a little kirsch into each one.
5. Sprinkle with icing sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 2–3 minutes. Remove and sprinkle again with icing sugar. Return to the hot oven to glaze for 2–3 minutes more.
6. Just prior to serving, cut the clementines in half, and top each with a dollop of crème fraîche or ice-cream, mixed with a little kirsch if wished.