One of my favourite ways to eat tamarillos is to macerate them with vanilla. Intensely red and glossy, vanilla macerated tamarillos have an amazing tart and sweet contrast and are the perfect thing to have on top of porridge, or with muesli and yoghurt for breakfast. Or try them for dessert with lemon polenta cake and yoghurt.

Vanilla macerated tamarillos

Slightly adapted from Annabel Langbein‘s The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives, 2004.

tamarillos 6-8

boiling water

vanilla sugar 1/3 cup (made by storing a vanilla pod in a jar of sugar)

vanilla paste 1/2 teaspoon (or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence)

Boil the jug and pierce the skin of the tamarillos in a few places with a small knife. Place in bowl and pour over the boiling water and cover with a plate or a lid. Leave for ten minutes and drain off water.

Cut off the top of each tamarillo and you should be able to easily remove the skins. If not, cover again with boiling water and leave for another 1-2 minutes. Slice the peeled tamarillos thinly and put into a glass or ceramic bowl (not metal!) and stir through the vanilla sugar and vanilla paste. Put aside for 30 minutes or until the tamarillos have released a deep red juice. Will keep in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.