Cherries & melon in lemon thyme syrup

Name: Cherries & melon in lemon thyme syrup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 175 g granulated sugar; 500 ml dry white wine; 1 unwaxed lemon, 2 broad strips zest, plus juice; 4 sprig/s lemon thyme, plus more to serve; 450 g cherries, pitted (you can tear them with hands, but use a cherry stoner if you prefer); 500 g melon flesh, deseeded and cut into cubes (Galia or Cantaloupe are good, but they must be ripe!); Ice cream, to serve

Diana Henry was served chilled cherries and melon with ginger ice cream many moons ago. She had never thought of the combination and loved it immediately – it was the inspiration for this recipe.

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Vegetarian

Serves4
CourseDessert
Prepare15 mins
Cook10 mins
Total time25 mins
PlusPreparation time 15 minutes + cooling and chilling

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175g granulated sugar
500ml dry white wine
1 unwaxed lemon, 2 broad strips zest, plus juice
4 sprig/s lemon thyme, plus more to serve
450g cherries, pitted (you can tear them with hands, but use a cherry stoner if you prefer)
500g melon flesh, deseeded and cut into cubes (Galia or Cantaloupe are good, but they must be ripe!)
Ice cream, to serve

Put the sugar into a medium saucepan with the wine, lemon zest, ½ the lemon juice, thyme and 100ml water. Bring to the boil, stirring to help the sugar dissolve, then boil for 8 minutes. The syrup will thicken as it cools.
Taste the syrup – you should detect the thyme but it shouldn’t be overwhelming. If not strong enough, add more leaves and let it infuse the syrup as it cools. Taste again and add more lemon juice to lift the flavour if needed.
Put the cherries into a serving bowl and strain the syrup over the top. Leave for a couple of hours, then add the melon (it gets tired and flabby if it’s in the syrup for too long). Toss in a few fresh sprigs of the reserved lemon thyme, then serve with pistachio or vanilla ice cream (if making your own, almond or ginger flavours would also work well).