Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.

Rub the apple peel with the coconut oil, cinnamon and demerara sugar, place in a small roasting tin and bake for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. The peel may still be slightly moist despite being nicely coloured, but it will firm up when cool and become crunchy. Roughly chop the peel, mix it with the crushed pistachios and set aside.

Pour the water into a saucepan with the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, peppercorns, nutmeg, cardamom and honey. Bring to a simmer and add the whole apples. Cover the pan with baking parchment and close the lid tightly over it, so no steam escapes. Cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat. Transfer the apples to a bowl with a slotted spoon and continue to reduce the liquid until you have about 100ml left.

Serve the warm cooked apples drizzled with the chai syrup (I like to leave the aromatic whole spices in) and top with the apple ‘crunch’ and crushed pistachios.

TIP: This tastes great with frozen yoghurt or simple vanilla ice cream.