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Spicy plum crumble in a flash

by Jeanne Horak on September 13, 2007 10 Comments in Dessert, Vegetarian

spicy-plum-crumble

SpicyplumcrumbletitleeditedSo you’ve heard of speed dating?  I predict the next craze will be speed pudding.  Well, it will be in my house, in any event.  Old married ladies like me don’t have much use for speed dating 😉

Speed pudding happens when you’ve had a nice meal but you still feel inexplicably peckish.  Ice cream does not sound like it will fill the gap, and maybe (like me) you’re just not a sweets and chocolates person.  So… you simply head for the kitchen and make a pudding, speedily and from what you find lying about in the kitchen.  I have on occasion had friends staying and after dinner I’ve announced that I wanted to make pudding – who votes for chocolate and who votes for apple caramel.  Said friends would look at me nonplussed.  What – you have TWO kinds of pudding in your freezer?  Because surely a pudding is something you buy from Sainsbury’s and heat in the microwave or oven?

Au contraire.  Warm puddings are some of the most forgiving things you can make.  They don’t have to look stylish and delicate, and their ingredients are such that, even if things don’t turn out as planned, the result is usually edible 😉 Many of them can be made with store cupboard ingredients (like self-saucing chocolate pudding) or fruit that’s a day or two past its best.  And hardly any of them need to take you more than 10 minutes to prepare.

My favourite speed pudding of all time was when I was living in South Africa and Nick in London, and he called me one night asking “what dessert can I make with apples?”.  I was about to launch into a long explanation when he hissed “the guests are at the table – we finished dinner and they’re still hungry!”  No pressure!  And so I talked him through microwave stuffed baked apples which the guests were enjoying no more than 15 minutes later.

These days, it’s far more likely that I will wander into the kitchen and make a fruit-based pudding to accompany some late-night movie on TV for just the two of us.  Once again, friends will say “but it’s just the two of you!  Surely it’s too much trouble to make a pudding?”  But I dare you to try this recipe and rell me it’s too much trouble.  To me it’s more like a huge return for an embarrasingly small effort.

And the consequences are far less complicated than with speed dating 😉

SPICY PLUM CRUMBLESpicyplumcrumble2edited (for 2)

Ingredients

250g plums (about 4 plums depending on the size)

50g sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

2 cardamom pods

25ml sherry (medium cream)

40g flour

50g oats

50g butter

 

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 170C.  Wash the plums and slice them in half to remove the stone.  Then cut each half into 3-4 pieces.  Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and crush as finely as possible with a pestle and mortar.

Spread the plum slices over the base of an oven-proof dish.  Sprinkle with the sherry, half each of the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.   Also sprinkle with half the sugar.

Rub the butter into the flour and remaining spices.  Stir in the oats, remaining sugar and spices and spread over the plums.  Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream, mascarpone or ice cream.

 

NOTES:  This is a great way to use up plums that are either slightly past their prime or were picked slightly green and never really improved.  (“Ripen in the bowl”? My ass!).  I reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe if the plums are sweet and fully ripe.  The sherry is optional but I think it makes for a more grown-up dish.  If you are not into spice, you can also reduce the spiciness by leaving out the cloves and cardamom.  Don’t leave out the cinnamon though!

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  1. Coffee & Vanilla says

    September 13, 2007 at 7:44 pm

    Wow, I did not realize it can be so simple.
    Great recipe.
    Greetings, Margot
    p.s. If you have a while please take a look at the most Inspiring Food Photography competition at my page…

    Reply
  2. Coffee & Vanilla says

    September 13, 2007 at 7:44 pm

    Wow, I did not realize it can be so simple.
    Great recipe.
    Greetings, Margot
    p.s. If you have a while please take a look at the most Inspiring Food Photography competition at my page…

    Reply
  3. Coffee & Vanilla says

    September 13, 2007 at 7:44 pm

    Wow, I did not realize it can be so simple.
    Great recipe.
    Greetings, Margot
    p.s. If you have a while please take a look at the most Inspiring Food Photography competition at my page…

    Reply
  4. Mrs.W says

    September 13, 2007 at 10:29 pm

    Mmmmmmm yum yum it looks so wonderful–you’ve got my mouth watering for a fruit pudding now! I’ll have to go out and buy some plums!

    Reply
  5. Anne says

    September 14, 2007 at 8:25 am

    *glancing at the plums on the counter* Sounds PERFECT! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Susan from Food Blogga says

    September 14, 2007 at 6:00 pm

    You know, I simply haven’t eaten enough plums this summer. For some reason, they weren’t as good at the farmers’ market this year as last, so I’ve been avoiding them lately. I should make a couple more dishes before they’re gone, and your crumble sounds like a winner!

    Reply
  7. Belinda says

    September 15, 2007 at 3:59 pm

    Sounds excellent to me…I’ll have it with a nice (read large!) scoop of ice cream, and I’m adding plums to my grocery list right away! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Katie says

    September 16, 2007 at 9:30 am

    I’ve done similar things with apples, pears or berries…but I have the oven hotter – 200C…. they cook faster 😉
    Actually, I rarely (never) make fancier desserts…

    Reply
  9. african vanielje says

    September 16, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    …if i was speed dating I would want to take you home. I mean I would want to come to your home for pudding. But I’m also an old married woman so I guess I’ll just have to cook this myself.

    Reply
  10. Jeanne says

    September 24, 2007 at 1:03 pm

    Hi Margot
    Yes, I was also pleasantly surprised when I found out I coudl whip up a crumble in about 10 minues! And trust me – this one is delicious… Will have a look at your page in a minute.
    Hi Mrs W
    Oh, you won’t regret it 😉
    Hi Anne
    No further enticement needed, then! That are you waiting for 😉
    Hi Susan
    The beauty of this is that the plums can be less-than-perfect and yuo can still get away with it. I msut agree though – this season I haven’t had a plum that made me weak at the knees… I remember plums back home as a child that regularly made me want to swoon with pleasure while the juice dripped down my chin.
    Hi Belinda
    Good move! And If I’d had any, I might also have added a scoop of mascarpone or ice cream – sadly, this spur of the moment speed pudding trend does nt always take into account what’s inyour freezer 😉
    Hi Katie
    It’s such a wonderfully versatile way of dealing with any number of fruits. And as for the oven temp… that’s kind of my default setting: When in doubt, go for somewhere between 170and 180C! :o)
    Dear African Vanielje
    LOL – picturing us meeting each other across a speed dating table, getting into a recipe discussion and refusing to move on after our alotted time! Let’s hear it for old married ladies with pudding-making skills 😉

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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