I am one of those people that loves “extras” to main dishes … whether that be a sauce, seasoning, herbs, spreads, whatever.  So when I came across Dani Valent’s fabulous recipe for her Plum Syrup Cake (see here) I had to make it.  (NB:  this is one cake that the almonds can’t be substituted with sunflower seeds to make it nut free … I tried that and found the almonds give a much more delicious flavour).

Plums are very much in season right now, so last week I couldn’t resist making Dani’s cake … again!

This time however I had my mum’s words in my head:  “Gina, use dark brown sugar when cooking dark fruit like plums and rhubarb” … so last weekend when I had guests for dinner, I wanted a really easy dessert to offer them.  I imagined a dessert glass with a layer of roasted plums on the base, topped with a layer of lemon curd, followed by a good drizzle of plum syrup, and finally a decent layer of a toasted nut crumble … and it was delicious!  Everything was done ahead and all I had to do what put it together before serving … along with a side serve of vanilla bean ice-cream for good measure (love ice-cream!).

I have changed Dani’s recipe slightly … using more lemon juice (for more bite), dark mascovado sugar (for more sweetness), along with 2 tsps of vanilla bean paste (which I love in any dessert), and a tsp of sea salt flakes.  The recipe makes 600g and it is fantastic served over your brekkie bowl of yoghurt / granola / or porridge, with ice-cream for a quick dessert, drizzled over any toasted fruit bread, or any vanilla flavoured cake.

If you are interested in replicating the dessert, here are the links:

Roasted plums … see here … follow exactly the same process replacing the berries with the same weight of small dark plums, washed, pipped and cut into 1/8th’s

Lemon curd … see here

Creamy Traditional Ice-cream … see here

And for the crumble, make any crumble that you like but pre-bake it in the oven on a lined baking tray … 150 degrees fan forced, turning it over after 10 minutes, then every 5 minutes until it is nicely golden (depending on how much butter you have in your recipe it may take a little more than 30 minutes, but keep turning it over until golden … I allowed a small bit to cool, then tested it for crunch before I considered it “done) … allow to cool completely then put into the fridge in a sealed container until ready to use … if your crumble doesn’t have nuts in it, consider adding some chopped nuts (almonds / walnuts / or pecans) to the mix before baking to add that extra “umph”.  Make more than you need and use the leftovers the following week sprinkled over ice-cream and served with the plum syrup … you won’t be worry!

And if you haven’t had the time to look properly at Dani’s website then do yourself a favour and take a peek … link is on the main recipe for the plum cake.

Plum Syrup

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

... which are pipped and cut into quarters

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 600g

Ingredients

• 500g dark plums, pitted weight, cut into ¼'s
• 60g fresh lemon juice
• 50g dark muskovado sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Place a plate onto your ™ bowl
2. As you pip and cut the plums into ¼'s place them onto the plate until you get your 500g
3. Add the rest of the ingredients
4. Cook 5 minutes / 100 / speed 1 / MC off
5. Place MC into position
6. Blend 45 seconds / speed 9, scrape mix around, and continue for another 5 seconds / speed 9
7. Pour mix into a container, leave uncovered and allow to cool completely
8. Cover and store in the fridge until needed
9. Keeps for at least a week in the fridge

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