What to do with berries, pud and pav the day after
Leftover dessert is another reason to celebrate, writes Anna King Shahab.
Christmas Eve: the grocery stores and supermarkets are almost clean out of fresh berries and cherries; last-minute shoppers have descended to stock up, as if for an impending disaster.
The inevitable result is that we come out the other side of Christmas Day with a mother lode of fresh fruit to put to work.
Don’t let it go to waste! There are so many ways to make fruit, and other sweet Christmas leftovers, perform like stars beyond the big event.
Get soaking:
Macerating fruit softens it, enhances its flavour and sweetness, and semi-preserves it. It’s a good way to deal with fruit that’s on the cusp of overripeness, and once macerated, fruit can last, covered in the
fridge, for a few days.
In the simplest sense, it involves gently tossing the fruit with sugar and leaving it to steep for 45 minutes or so.
Along with sugar, you can add a liquid.
That could be something boozy – Grand Marnier is traditional, or try Chambord, Cointreau, Champagne, whisky, rum.
You could also try a noncitrus juice or a fruity vinegar. Experiment with other additions like vanilla, fresh chopped herbs, citrus zest, spices.
You can put your macerated fruit to work in many ways: Atop yoghurt, icecream, or creamy oats; into puddings, cakes and pies; blended into smoothies and slushies, and popped into ice blocks or sangria.
You can also try it served alongside barbecued meats or on a cheese platter with some lovely sharp blue or Cheddar.
The maceration process creates a beautiful fruit syrup, and you can use this separately if you like, as a cordial, cocktail starter or in a salad dressing. Other ideas with fruit:
❚ Slice and freeze with water in ice cubes for fun summery drinks.
❚ Cook down with sugar to make compote. Stored in an airtight jar in fridge this will last quite some time and is great added to breakfasts and puddings.
❚ Blend fruit with water and sugar, freeze on a lined tray and scrape to make granita.
❚ Puree peeled fruit and use or freeze to use in ice blocks, baking, sauces. Other leftovers to love:
❚ Leftover panettone is excellent tarted up into a bread and butter pudding. Play on the citrus peel in it by adding a little citrusy liqueur to the party: Cointreau, limoncello, Grand Marnier, Triple Sec. Or dipped in beaten egg with cinnamon and fried in butter for Italo-French toast.
❚ If Christmas pudding in a warm climate confounds you like it does me, try this instead the day after: cut up pud, stir through softened icecream, return to freezer to firm up. You can do the same with leftover pavlova, but first freeze it to firm it up. It goes well in icecream with fruity additions like lemon curd, passionfruit pulp or strawberry puree.
❚ Any leftover pav also does well in an Eton mess with seasonal fruit and fresh whipped cream or yoghurt. (Personal favourite: Tropical mess with leftover pav, grilled pineapple, toasted coconut and coconut yoghurt.)
❚ Christmas cake makes a decadent brunch or dessert when cut into wee slabs and fried in butter – serve with icecream or cream.
❚ Leftover mincemeat can be sprinkled over apples or peaches and baked for a simple but satisfying dessert. It can also be sauteed with onion and baharat spices then tossed through steamed basmati rice – perfect to accompany tagine or spiced roasted aubergine, with a yoghurt and mint sauce to cut through the richness.