Bottled Apricots

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 45 mins
Serves: 4 bottles

INGREDIENTS

• 20 baby Corella pears
• seeds of 24 cardamom pods
• thickly-sliced zest of 8 lemons
• 24 sage leaves
• 800g caster sugar

METHOD

1 Halve the pears and place into sterilised jars with the cardamom seeds, lemon zest and sage leaves. Combine the sugar with 2L water and boil rapidly for 45 minutes, until reduced by half. Pour over the pears, then fit the lids.

2 Place the bottles in a pot of boiling water and simmer for 45 minutes, ensuring the water covers the bottles completely. Remove from the water and allow to cool, then refrigerate.