Baked citrus pears & apples

Caroline Marson: Food writer

This is a healthy pudding ideal for using up pears, apples, oranges and lemons that may be left in the fruit bowl. Serve warm as a light pudding with Greek yoghurt, or eat chilled with a bowl of muesli for a healthy start to the day.

Ingredients: serves 4

2 pears (very ripe, peeled, cut into quarters and cored)
2 apples (peeled, cut into quarters and cored)
1 cinnamon stick (broken pieces are fine)
pinch of grated nutmeg
juice of 1 lemon (zest peeled into strips with a vegetable peeler)
juice of 3 oranges (zest from 1 orange peeled into strips)
yoghurt (or creme fraiche)
75 g dried fruit (such as raisins or sultanas)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Place the pear and apples quarters in a flameproof dish with the cinnamon stick, nutmeg, raisins, lemon and orange juice with the zest strips.
Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the fruit is just soft.
Serve warm with crème fraiche or yoghurt.

Recipe tips:

A fresh apple is the ideal, healthy snack for children, easy to carry, filling, juicy and refreshing. Some varieties are a good source of vitamin C, which is an antioxidant and helps maintain the immune system. Apples are also relatively low in calories and contain a high proportion of fructose. This sugar is metabolised slowly, and so helps control blood sugar levels.