This was meant to be spiced clementines with toasted pound cake but a) we didn't have enough eggs or sugar left to make the pound cake and b) it felt like a bit of a waste. We were going to have them with some store-bought sponge, but the local Countdown was all out. So we ended up just spooning them over a bit of vanilla ice cream instead. And they were quite tasty that way. A nice, refereshing summer dessert.

Spiced Clementines

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 4 allspice berries, lightly crushed (or 1/8-1/4 tsp. ground allspice)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise, lightly crushed
• 2 black peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 vanilla bean
• 6-8 clementines
• 1/4 c. fresh mint¹

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, water, allspice, cinnamon, star anise, and black peppercorns.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out. Add both the seeds and the empty pod to the pot with the other ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Peel the clemeintines and slice crosswise.
5. Add clementine slices to syrup and remove from heat.
6. Allow to steep for 20-30 minutes, then serve over cake or ice cream and top with mint.

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¹ I completely forgot about the fresh mint when I made this. Even though that was half the reason for doing it since I had a bunch of mint in the fridge that needed using. Whoops! ^Back