This is such a delicious blend of spices and fruit, that can be served for breakfast over porridge or yoghurt and that works just as well for a luscious dessert served with rice pudding or a creamy, vanilla ice cream. The choice is yours (or if you’re in my household it gets served for both breakfast AND dessert).

500ml water
3 pears
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp honey
1 cinnamon stick
8 cardamom pods, split
3 star anise
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 Earl Grey teabag
2 strips lemon zest
2 strips orange zest
750g mixed dried fruit (apples, figs, apricots, prunes, peaches)

Put the water, lemon juice and honey into a medium saucepan. Add in the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, lemon and orange zest, vanilla paste and star anise. Put on a moderate heat.

Peel the pears, cut in half and gently drop them into the saucepan once the water is near to boiling.

Cover and poach, without boiling, for 10 minutes – carefully turn the pears in the water midway through cooking to prevent browning, test the pears with the point of a sharp knife, if they are soft with just a little bite still left remove the pan from the heat. (If they’re too firm poach for a few minutes more.)

Off the heat add the teabag and all the spices and zest and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.

Remove the tea bag and the pears and add the dried fruit. Put back on the heat (you may need to add another 150ml or so of water), cover and poach the dried fruit for another 5 minutes.

Return the pears to the pan and leave it all to cool.

Remove the cinnamon stick, cardamom husks, zest strips and star anise. Cover the fruit directly with clingfilm to prevent browning and store in the fridge until required.

Best served at room temperature and eaten within 5 days. Serve with yogurt for breakfast or ice cream for a luscious dessert.