Sweet Couscous with Almond Cream and Poached Fruits
Photography Aaron McLean.
Serves: 4-6
INGREDIENTS
Couscous
2 cups orange juice
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons caster sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
350 grams instant couscous
1⁄2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1⁄4 cup pistachio nuts
Almond cream
450 ml milk
2 tablespoons cornflour
3 tablespoons ground almonds
3 tablespoons caster
sugar pinch of salt
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract
finely grated zest of 1 small orange
To serve
Any of the following poached fruits: quince, figs, prunes, stone fruit, dried apricots
fresh figs, oranges or dates
mint leaves
icing sugar for dusting
METHOD
Couscous: Combine the orange juice, cinnamon, caster sugar and the lemon zest and juice in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Put the couscous in a bowl, pour over the hot juice, stir and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave for 15 minutes.
Almond cream: Mix the cornflour with 3 tablespoons of the milk then combine with the other ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Strain through a coarse sieve into a clean bowl. Cover and set aside to cool.
To serve: Stir the almonds and pistachios into the couscous. Pile it onto a platter and form into a cone. Place the poached fruit and sprigs of mint around the base. Dust with icing sugar.
Serve the almond cream in a jug and pour over individual serves.
Good quality preserved poached fruits or fruits in syrup can be purchased from most food stores and good supermarkets.
Keep up to date with
dish weekly recipes,
food news, and events.
Related Content
latest issue:
127
In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.