Five Spice Fall Fruit Salad

This is great for a winter brunch.  Always need some balance to that bacon and eggs dish...

Serves 6-8

photo by Tara Donne, food styling by Diana Yen

ingredients

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 1-inch piece ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 5 black plums, pitted and sliced
• 5 red plums, pitted and sliced
• 8 figs

preparation

Place 3/4 cup water in a medium saucepan. Add the honey, vanilla bean pod with seeds, ginger, and five-spice powder. Bring to a boil and stir until honey dissolves. Set aside to cool completely, and stir in lemon juice. Discard ginger and vanilla bean pod.

In a large bowl, pour cooled syrup over the sliced plums. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.

An hour before serving, slice figs in half and gently fold into plum mixture. To serve, use a slotted spoon to ladle fruit into a serving bowl.

do ahead:Syrup can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.