Hot Fruit Compote
The Margaret Fulton Crock Pot Cookbook 1982 edition is as you would expect from the early 
1980’s. I removed it’s external cover to reveal a bare brown book with a funky white font.
Fulton is a British born Australian food writer who brought global dishes into the homes of Australians through her column in Woman’s Day magazine. She was giving to Australians what Julia Child was to bring to America a decade later.
She was certainly ahead of the game, acknowledging in the early 1950’s that ‘with more wives and mothers working, speed and ease in food preparation is a “must”‘
Eager to find just one unusual recipe that I wanted to try out this week (I’m saving the “Potted meats, cold meats and terrines section for the summer”) I found the simplest but most delicious breakfast dish.
Hot fruit compote has made my morning greek yoghurt much more interesting and involves little to no prep other than measuring the ingredients into the Crock Pot. The compote cooks in the unsweetened juice from a can of pineapple chunks to deliver a tart finish with a sticky caramel from the softened prunes. Great served over waffles, pancakes or oatmeal.
I made this in an All Clad 4 qt slow cooker and advise that if you choose a larger vessel to add a 1/2 cup of water into the recipe so that the fruit doesn’t over caramelize.
- 1 cup / 6 oz dried prunes
- 1 cup / 6 oz dried apricots (Mediterranean/Turkish variety)
- 1 x 20oz can pineapple chunks, in their own juice
- 1/2 cup / 3 oz golden raisins
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- optional - 1/2 cup water if you are making in a 5 quart or larger slow cooker/crock pot
- put all the ingredients into your slow cooker (including the juice from the can of pineapple)
- stir and cover, cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3
- serve over greek yoghurt for breakfast or as a dessert with vanilla ice cream
Choose dried fruits with no added sugar or sulphites (which help the fruits maintain their color)
Zen Moment
“Breakfast is always the best time for something juicy, sweet and fresh – it just feels like the right way to open the day. There’s no right way, though, when it comes to choosing the fruit.”
-Yotam Ottolenghi Best
