Oh my darling..! It’s Christmas, which means it’s time for the clementine, that jewel-like hybrid of tangerine and sweet orange. What will you do with yours this festive season?
• Hot spiced Christmas clementines: Place 6 whole, peeled clementines in a pan, add 1 tbsp each of golden granulated sugar and light muscovado sugar (adjust quantities to your taste), 2 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, and ¼ tsp vanilla extract. Add water to halfway up the fruit, cover and simmer over a medium heat for 10 mins until the juices mix with the sugar. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
• Baked clementines: Peel 6 clementines and remove pith. Place in a baking dish. Gently pull the segments apart a little to create a hole in the centre and pour a little brandy into each. Sprinkle with ground cinammon, the seeds from a vanilla bean, and stick a prong from a star anise in each. Sprinkle with soft brown sugar and bake at 190C/Gas 5 for 15 mins. Serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar and topped with whipped cream.
• Clementine tart: Unroll a shop-bought puff pastry sheet and place on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper. Arrange the segments from 6-8 clementines, peeled and pith removed, over the pastry, leaving a 3cm gap around the edges. Sprinkle with 1-2 tbsp light brown soft sugar, brush pastry edges with beaten egg and bake at 180C/Gas 6 for 15 mins. Serve warm dusted with icing sugar.
