Gingerbread Hotcakes

Ingredients

Tahitian vanilla & maple mascarpone

250g mascarpone
1 tsp icing sugar
1 vanilla bean
20mL pure maple syrup

Raspberry sauce

400g of fresh or frozen raspberries
60g castor sugar
100mL water
30mL lemon juice

Sugar syrup for poaching fruit

1L water
150g castor sugar
30mL lemon juice

Poached fruit

1 quince – peeled, quartered and the core removed
1 stick rhubarb – sliced 0.5cm thick
1 pear – peeled and halved

Garnish

½ punnet fresh blueberries
Chopped pistachios
Icing sugar

Method

Tahitian vanilla & maple mascarpone

Place the mascarpone, icing sugar and the maple syrup into a small bowl. Run a small knife along the length of the vanilla bean to split it in two. Scrape out the seeds and add them to the mascarpone. Mix with a small spoon and chill.

Raspberry sauce

Raspberry sauce
400g of fresh or frozen raspberries
60g castor sugar
100mL water
30mL lemon juice

Sugar syrup for poaching fruit

Place the water, lemon juice and castor sugar into a small saucepan and boil for 1 minute.

Poached fruit

Quince: Heat your oven to 100 C. We cook our quinces for about 10 hours, overnight in a small deep tray or saucepan with enough sugar syrup to cover, glad bake and foil. In the morning they will be soft and crimson. Chill and slice.

Rhubarb: In a heatproof bowl, pour just enough boiling sugar syrup over the rhubarb and let it cool. Pour the syrup off the rhubarb back into a small saucepan and bring it back to the boil. Pour the syrup back over the rhubarb. Repeat the process until you’re happy with how tender it is.

Pear: Simmer the pears in sugar syrup until you can easily push a skewer into it. Chill the pears in the syrup. When cool, cut the pears into quarters and cut out the core.

Garnish

Assemble as per the photo and garnish with: Vanilla and maple mascarpone (you can shape it nicely using a warm tablespoon) ½ punnet fresh blueberries mixed with a little raspberry sauce, chopped pistachios & icing sugar.

Credits: 'Flavours of Urban Melbourne' by Smudge Publishing