gently spice infused fruit cup

This baby food smells so good and tastes so good…you’ll want to eat it yourself! For sure this beats a store-bought fruit cup. Chutney is an aromatic delicious condiment that originated from India and is usually some sort of fruit that has been cooked with spices to give it a fragrant intense flavour. This baby version uses only 3 spices and is gently infused so that it will just get your baby started on some new flavours without overwhelming the actual taste of the fruits. Be sure to save any extra liquid after the cooking process – it will be full of flavour! – and it can be used to sweeten up yogurt, oatmeal, or blended up in a smoothie.

prep: 10 min   cook: 3-4 hours (slow cooker) or 45 min   yield: 6 small mason jars

what you need:

• 3 pears (I used anjou pears)
• 1 mango
• 3 thin slices of fresh ginger
• 2 cardamon seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 cup water

what to do:

1. Wash fruit and peel. Dice fruit into small chunks. Place into slow cooker pot.
   
2. Peel ginger (the easiest is to use the side of a spoon and scrape off the peel) and cut 3 thin slices. Lightly smash cardamon seeds with the side of a large knife, to expose the little seeds within it. Place cinnamon stick, cardamon seeds, and ginger slices into a spice bag (don’t have one? make your own with cheese cloth and string!).
3. Place spice bag into slow cooker with the fruit and pour water over everything. Make sure the spice bag is nestled down under the fruit and in the water.
4. Cook on lowest setting for 3-4 hours.
   

   can you spot the spice bag?

5. Remove lid and allow to cool. Once it’s cool enough to handle, store in mason jars. Enjoy!

*If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can make this on the stove top. Simply put ingredients into a pot with a lid on, bring to a boil then turn it down to medium-low heat and keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally and adding water if required (to avoid burning) – should take about 40 minutes or so.