Baked pear crisps

Serves 4-6
1 under-ripe pear, such as comice
1 firm desert apple
Juice of 2 limes or lemons
400g caster sugar
200ml water
250g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set the oven to 110C/230F/gas mark ¼.

2 Using a mandolin, cut the fruit into paper-thin slices. Squeeze the lime or lemon juice over immediately to prevent them from turning brown and to add flavour.

3 Combine the sugar and water in a heavy pan, then warm over a medium heat until it fully dissolves. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Cook until the syrup reaches the thread stage at 112C/233F (when a little syrup dropped into cold water forms a liquid thread).

4 Put the fruit slices in one or two large roasting dishes. Pour over the reduced syrup and bake for 30 minutes.

5 Lift the slices from the syrup with a slotted spoon, draining off as much syrup as possible. Lay the slices out on your prepared baking sheet in a single layer.

6 Bake in the oven for 2 hours, then, using a spatula, flip the slices over and bake for a further 30 minutes, until completely dry. Leave to cool.

7 Put the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water to melt, taking care not to overheat the chocolate. Dip the fruit slices into the melted chocolate and put on a plate to set.