The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Angie at Echoes of Laughter.
Hello Org Junkie readers! I am back again to share another delicious recipe with you! Since I have a few friends who eat a gluten free diet {and Laura’s son also eats a gluten free diet}, I was searching around for a dessert that was easy to make and gluten free to serve over the holidays to my friends who cannot eat flour-containing goodies.
I found this recipe for Warm Spiced Fruit Dessert in an old community cookbook. And besides being gluten free, it is also made in a slow cooker….which makes it my new best friend! It is the ultimate in a hands-free and bake free dessert as it is basically just chopping some fruit and throwing it all into a slow cooker with some spices, butter, juice and corn starch. This creation also lends itself well to using whatever fruit your family prefers….apples, pears, pineapples, Mandarin oranges, cranberries, raisins or cherries. Nuts are also a great addition if your guests can eat nuts. Sound good? I hope so! This dessert tastes delicious and smells so fragrant with the all the wonderful spices.
You are probably thinking that this would make a good ‘adult’ dessert, but are wondering about kids? Well, I can tell you that I had this dessert all looking pretty in a dish to take photos for this post, when I went upstairs to retrieve my camera. When I returned, the pretty-looking dessert was missing. Child #1 was sitting in the living room….happily eating pretty dessert. All righty then!
Warm Spiced Fruit Dessert {Gluten Free}
Ingredients:
3 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
3 pears, peeled and chopped
1 scant cup cranberries or raisins {I used cranberries.}
3/4 cup chopped red & green cherries
1 can Mandarin oranges or pineapples {I left this out.}
a few dabs of butter {3-4 teaspoons}
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup apple, cranberry or white grape juice {I used apple juice.}
1/4 cup maple syrup {optional}
3/4 cup chopped walnuts {optional}
Directions:
1.Spray slow cooker insert with cooking spray. Layer fruit in slow cooker. {I used a small slow cooker.}
2. In medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, spices and cornstarch. Whisk in 1 cup juice with wire whisk. Pour over fruit in slow cooker.
3. Dab a few dots of butter around fruit in slow cooker.
4. Cover. Cook on high for about 2 hours. Stir in walnuts and maple syrup during last 10 minutes of cooking.
5. Serve warm alone or over vanilla ice cream. Store leftover fruit in fridge for 3-4 days.
Makes approx. 5 cups.
And if you have warm spiced fruit leftover, there are some other things you can do with it~ spoon it warm over pancakes or waffles. Serve over crepes filled with vanilla ice cream. Or serve with pound cake or biscuits. It is delicious in so many ways!
Wishing you a wonderful holiday!
Angie’s blog, Echoes of Laughter, is all about filling your home with love and laughter. She loves creative projects, organizing & decorating, cooking, baking, and all things domestic. Angie lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two great kids.
Diane says
Hello, I have a couple of questions regarding the recipe for Warm Spiced Fruit Dessert.
Dried or Fresh Cranberries?
What are red and green cherries?
How much cornstarch?
I varied a bit from the recipe, used fresh cranberries, one fresh mandarin orange, a bit of fresh pineapple and about a cup of frozen black cherries. Used a tablespoon of cornstarch. My guests enjoyed this but I thought it was a bit too thin. I suppose it cooked too long, as it looked nothing like the picture shown here.