Spiced Fruit Bruschetta

, from Issue #16. September, 2015
Photography by Nick Tresidder.
Spiced Fruit Bruschetta

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

6 croissants, halved
selection of ripe stone fruit – peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots
150 grams butter at room temperature
fine zest of 1 orange

Spice mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup brown sugar
chopped pistachios to garnish
thick yoghurt to serve

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Halve the fruit and slice 1 cm thick. Combine the spices in a bowl. Stir half the spices into the butter along with the orange zest and reserve the other half.

Using only the bottom half of each croissant, spread the cut sides with three quarters of the butter and place them on a lined baking tray. Pile slices of fruit on top and sprinkle with the reserved spiced sugar. Dot over the remaining butter.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the croissants are crisp around the edges.

To serve: Dust with icing sugar, sprinkle with pistachios and serve with thick yoghurt. 

Only the bases of the croissants are used in this recipe. Freeze the tops for using in a bread and butter pudding.

Other seasonal fruits can be used as a topping. Autumn fruits such as figs and grapes and sautéed slices of apples and pears are delicious.