Heating Up Fruits

While fruits in season are best enjoyed fresh and simple, it can also be fully utilized fried in honey. This bright and merry dessert recipe of Chef Franck Salein combines a beautiful array of fruits of the autumn season including pineapple, pears, apples, papaya, kiwi, strawberries, and clementines. In this desert recipe all the colors of autumn are displayed, Fresh fruits in season roasted in rosemary honey and served on top of a crispy pastry shell gives the best that nature has to offer and is prepared using sophisticated yet simple French culinary techniques. It is not only the availability of the fruits that Chef Dalein opted to use them but more so for their diverse colors, flavors, and textures to create an interesting, harmonious, and very attractive plate.

As if the various flavors of these fruits together all in one dish are not enough, Chef Salein roasts the fruits in raw honey flavored with fresh rosemary. To attain an intensely flavored and deeply aromatic honey, steep the fresh rosemary for a few hours before the time you plan to serve this elegant dessert. While the fragrant aroma of rosemary and the soothing sweetness of raw honey is delectable already, the flavor of this fruity dish is further enhanced with some orange juice that is added to the fruits while they are cooking. It is likewise added to the leftover juices of the cooked fruits to make the sauce that will accompany this dish. It is advised that you make the freshly squeezed orange juice in advance so that it is all prepared when you are ready to make this treat. Other fruits maybe used to make this dish depending on the season. An important consideration is that the fruits you opted to use must have a good balance of citrus and soft fleshy kinds. The tanginess and sweetness should not overwhelm each other for a sensational effect in the palate. Even if the fruits you selected are not as sweet or ripe as you like them to be, the honey and the heat will soften the fruits and make them taste divine.

Ingredients

1 mandarin orange

1 pear

1 apple

½ a pineapple

1 papaya

8 strawberries

3 tablespoons honey

1 fresh rosemary branch

4 mint leaves

orange juice

2 Phyllo (filo) pastry sheets

1. In a shallow round baking mold fit the thinly flattened pastry inside. Trim the excess to make a bottom crust. Place in a 180-degree oven and bake for five or six minutes. It will turn into a nice brown color and have a crispy texture once cooked. Remove gently the crispy pastry shell from the mold. 

2. Wash, peel, and chop all the fruits into segments. 

3. Put some rosemary-flavored honey in a hot pan,. Glaze the segments of apples, pears, and pineapple slices and deglaze with some fresh orange juice. Add the more delicate fruits, i.e. papaya, kiwi, and strawberries. Lastly add the mandarins.

4. Arrange nicely the glazed fruits in the pastry shell. 

5 . To the liquid left from roasting the fruits add a tablespoon full of fresh orange juice. Heat it a bit to make the sauce. Then pour this over to the dessert. Use mint and rosemary leaves to decorate.