Poached fruits = win
There is indeed nothing wrong with plain fruit, but have you any idea how good it tastes poached in sugar? Aside from the fact that anything poached in sugar and vanilla is probably going to be fabulous, for fruits it magnifies their flavour and makes them the perfect texture/intensity to put in your baking (if you’ve ever put raw cut fruit on/in cake you’ll notice it usually dries out or tastes pretty lame after being baked inside a cake. There are a few exceptions of course, but this is generally the case).
Notice my liking for poached fruit with plain vanilla ice cream (yes, even if it’s just Tip Top ice cream). I also made an apricot sour cream cake but somehow the eating of it came before the photo taking of it. If the idea sounds appealing, I used the sour cream cake recipe found at Lottie and Doof, and just threw some poached apricots in once the batter was poured into the cake tin. It was so moist and soft for days, unlike your normal butter cake. Yum.
Poaching fruits
Grab as much fruit as you want. This is good for fruit that you’re worried will go off quickly, like stone fruits, pears, apples, and anything that has a solid flesh (you could use berries but you’ll end up with a sauce). Throw it in a saucepan, pour in enough water so that 1/4 of the fruit is still poking out of the water. Put in twice as much sugar (or just a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar if you want your fruit quite tart, or if using very sweet fruits like ripe yellowed pears). Add a dash of vanilla extract (never “essence” or fake stuff) or even a small portion of a split bean. Turn heat to medium, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium low. Let cook for about 15 minutes, then let cool. The syrup can be used in or on anything dessert-y. Below are some ideas.
Syrup uses
Over/in between cake
In porridge
Over ice cream
Over sweet tart
In fruit salad
Over yogurt
Fruit uses
As above, but also IN cakes
PS. I know I promised pakoras, but I think I made them a little dry last time by thinking that I knew better and changing the recipe. So I will make them again tonight perhaps and post again in a wee while.
Two Spoons 
Oh yum, I didn’t realize that poaching fruit would be so simple ;}