It has been hot. So very, very hot. I think I would enjoy Summer more if it wasn’t for this relentless Boland heat. Yet there are so many reasons to love this time of year. The fruit for one. I bought boxes of litchis and cherries from our regular fruit hawker several days ago. And a box of mangoes. Delicious mangoes that we made our way through very quickly! But those litchis were still sitting in our fridge by the weekend … I needed inspiration, and discoverd these. Litchi, white peach and berry pops by Aran (Cannelle-et-Vanille). Simply amazing.
Needless to say I immediately started scouring the internet for the perfect frozen popsicle moulds! If anyone has suggestions please let me know.
Then I stumbled across this recipe for Ginger Pannacotta with Poached Lychees and Madeleines. Oh my. 
I decided to lightly poach the litchis in a mint and ginger syrup, to be bottled and stored in the fridge for future use. The beauty of this is that once you have used the fruit you can make a refreshing drink by adding the lychee liquid to ginger ale and sparkling water. Perfect for balmy Summer days.
ingredients
4 cups white sugar
4 cups water
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
handful fresh mint leaves
2kg litchis, peeled and stoned
- Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the ginger and mint.
- Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat once more and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Add the litchis and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until just tender. Remove the mint leaves and discard.
- Remove the litchis and pack into sterilised jars. Cover with the hot syrup.
- Place on lids and secure tightly. Leave to stand for 12 hours to allow for a seal.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Our cat, Fez, not enjoying last weeks heat ...
