A jar of pickled pears

To fill a 750ml jar

8 hard conference pears

600ml cider vinegar, plus a splash or two extra

1 small cinnamon stick, broken in half

10 cloves

4 slices root ginger, each about 5mm thick

2 bay leaves

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 strips of lemon peel, each about 5cm long

325g caster sugar

Peel, halve and core the pears, rubbing the cut surfaces with a splash of vinegar as you go. Put everything else into a pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. Once boiling, add the pears, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, turning the fruit so it cooks evenly. When done, the pears should be slightly translucent and easily pierced with the tip of a knife.

Wash the jar and lid in warm soapy water, rinse well, then place upside down in a 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1 oven for 30 minutes to sterilise it. Remove the pears from the pan and pack tightly into the jar. Bring the vinegar mixture back to the boil and bubble for 10 minutes, until syrupy. Remove the peel and pour the liquid, spices and all, over the pears, until it reaches the neck of the jar — the pears must be totally covered. Seal the jar. Leave for at least a week or two before giving, to serve with cheese or cold meats.

Fig and anise jam

Makes 2 standard jam jars

500g ready-to-eat dried figs, or 700g firm fresh figs

1 orange

375g jam sugar (with added pectin, from all good supermarkets)

2 tbsp brandy

2 star anise

2 tbsp lemon juice

Jam-pot wax discs (from lakeland.co.uk)

Thoroughly wash and rinse the jam jars and their lids. Allow the lids to dry thoroughly, and place the jars in the oven at 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1 for 30 minutes to sterilise them. Put 3 metal teaspoons in the freezer to chill.

Remove the stems from the figs. If using dried, put them in a saucepan with 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, then cover, turn off the heat and leave

to stand for 45 minutes. Drain, keeping 100ml of the liquid. Whether you’re using fresh or dried, chop half the fruit and liquidise the rest. Place in a large saucepan (with the 100ml of liquid if using dried figs). Peel the orange and finely chop its flesh. Add to the figs, with the sugar, brandy, star anise and lemon juice, and stir. Put the pan on a low heat and stir regularly for 5-6 minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. Now turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring often, until thick.

Take the pan off the heat. Grab one of the teaspoons from the freezer, put a bit of the jam onto it and leave for 30 seconds. If it sets, it is ready. If it runs off the spoon, return the jam to the boil, give it a minute or so longer and test again. If you have a digital cooking thermometer, you want it to reach setting point, which is about 104C-105C. Ladle into the jars, hoiking out the star anise. Put a wax disc over the jam while it’s still hot, and cover with the lid. The jam should keep for a few months, but needs refrigerating once opened.

Hazelnut cinnamon stars

Makes about 20

400g hazelnuts (preferably ground)

1½ tsp cinnamon

Good pinch ground cloves

Zest of ½ lemon, finely grated

3 medium egg whites

Few drops natural vanilla essence

250g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 120C/250F/Gas Mark ½a couple of <NO>two large baking trays with parchment.

If you can find only whole hazelnuts, whizz to a fine powder in a food processor. Mix with the cinnamon, cloves and lemon zest. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and vanilla essence until stiff, then gently fold in the icing sugar. Put 4 heaped tbsp of the egg mixture to one side. Fold the rest into the hazelnut mixture. When it’s well mixed, squidge it together so that it forms a coherent ball.

Place the dough on a sheet of baking parchment on a work surface and place another sheet on top. Roll the pastry out to 5mm thick. Remove the top layer of paper and cut out stars with a cutter roughly 5cm across. Place these onto the baking trays. Stir the remaining egg-white mixture, then brush it thickly and evenly over each star. Allow the glaze to settle for 5 minutes, then put the cookies in the oven for 15 minutes.

Finally, turn down the oven to 100C/225F/Gas Mark ¼white <NO>glaze should stay vaguely white, while the underneath will be just set.

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