Baked Clementines

Made these for desert last night. Think they turned out pretty well. The idea was that Linda wanted us to have desert for our friends, but didn't want many calories. The Clementines were my solution. They're in season now & are low calorie.

This dish is easy to make & can be done in stages. I finished it off just before our guests arrived as I wanted to serve it at room temperature, but didn't want the puff pastry to get limp sitting around. It worked out fine.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Clementine per person
1 Bottle sweet desert wine (A cheap Sauternes or similar)
a 2-3 inch long cinnamon stick
Ground cinnamon
A bit of Nutmeg
Sheet (s) of puff pastry (how much depends upon how many Clementines)
1 Teaspoon of honey per Clementine

METHOD:

1. Scrape the zest off of the Clementines & reserve it.
2. Carefully peel the Clementines. Try to keep them whole.
3. Place the peeled Clementines in a pot, add the cinnamon stick, grate on a generous dose of Nutmeg then cover with the wine. (obviously its easier if you can make the Clementines just fit the pot in one layer.)
4. Bring to a boil & simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Let the liquid cool for a bit then carefully lift out the Clementines and place them on a wire rack to drain & cool.
6. Put the liquid back onto the heat, add the zest & reduce to about 1/4 of its volume.
7. Roll out the puff pastry thinly then using a round template cut out roughly 6 inch diameter rounds of the pastry.
   
8. Place a cooled Clementine in the centre of each round. Then drop a teaspoon of honey onto its centre. Sprinkle on ground cinnamon to taste. (be generous)
9. Now wet the edge of the pastry then bring two sides together over the Clementine. Press to make a seal & make a small fold.
10. Next bring one of the remaining sides up to the centre & press its two sides together. Do the same with the other side. ( The result should be a little parcel with 4 little wing like flaps of pastry.)
11. Place your parcels on a baking tray and, optionally, sprinkle some ground cinnamon & powdered sugar over them for decoration.
12. Bake a 375 degrees for roughly 20 minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned & crisp.

I served these at room temperature with whipped cream, but you could serve them hot and/or with crème fraîche. Just before serving I poured some of the reduced cooking liquid over each one.

Everybody seemed to enjoy the dish. It was light, but had a lot of flavour.

Try it & let me know what you think.