Fresh Fruit Salad With Almond Biscuits -

Fresh Fruit Salad With Almond Biscuits

Ingredients

2 oranges
2 clementines
3 ripe pears
8 oz grapes
3 bananas
2-3 tablespoons liqueur (kirsch, or maraschino)- optional
Sugar syrup (made with 6 tablespoons water, 3 oz granulated sugar and strip of lemon rind, or piece of vanilla pod)

Almond biscuits

3 oz butter
3 oz caster sugar
2 oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
3 oz almonds (finely shredded)

Method

First prepare the sugar syrup: dissolve sugar slowly in the water, add lemon rind or vanilla pod, and boil for 1 minute. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Remove flavouring.

Cut peel, pith and first skin from oranges with a sharp, serrated-edge knife to expose flesh; then remove segments by cutting between each mem­brane. Peel and slice clemen­tines. Peel and quarter pears, remove core, cut each quarter into two. Pip grapes by hooking out pips with eye of a trussing needle. Only white grapes should be peeled, not black ones. If skin is difficult to re­move from white grapes, dip them into boiling water for 1 minute. Peel bananas and cut in thick, slanting slices.

Moisten fruit with sugar syrup, add liqueur and turn fruit over carefully. Set a plate on top to keep fruit covered by the syrup. Chill before serving.

Almond biscuits:-  First, set the oven at 400°F or Mark 6. Soften butter, add sugar and beat well with wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Sift flour with a pinch of salt and stir into the mixture with the al­monds. Put mixture a teaspoon at a time on to a well-greased baking tin and flatten with a wet fork.

Watchpoint:- Leave plenty of space between the biscuits because they will spread during cooking. Bake in the oven until just coloured (6-8 minutes). Allow to stand a second or two before removing from the tin with a sharp knife. Curl on a rolling pin until set. Store when cool in an airtight container.

Related food category:

• Fresh Fruit Dessert