Dessert – Myfrenchkitchen

Autumn is almost here with all its varieties of plums. Mirabelles, red yellow and black velvet plums and the quetches are just starting. I decided on a yellow and red plum crumble for a delicious autumnal dessert. The yellow plums are at the end, and since they are my favorite plums, I wanted to mix them in with red plums. Not a single crumb is left when I make this crumble. It is simple an easy, as simple is always the best. But it can be dollied up according to desire. I prefer it simple with the tanginess of the plums adding all that is needed to turn this crumble into an autumn delight.

Recipe

120 ml all purpose flour
100 ml ground almonds
100 ml butter
75 ml brown sugar
25 ml brown sugar
750 g red and yellow plums

Preheat the oven to 180 degr C.
Mix the flour, the brown sugar and 75ml sugar in a bowl.
Add the butter and mix the mixture with your fingers until a crumble.
Cut the plums in thick slices, remove the seeds and add to an oven proof dish.
Sprinkle the 25ml of sugar over the top of the plums.
Sprinkle the cumed butter mixture over the plums.
Bake at 180 degr C for about 25 to 30 minutes until the crumble is slightly browned.
Serve warm with a dollop of créme fraîche.

Serves 6 people

Pinch of salt

Use any other seasonal fruit of your choice.
Serve in indivudual bowls or one large dish.
Serve warm or cold
Add spices like nutmeg, or cinnamon, or star aniseed for a wintery touch.
Use apricots or peaches in summer with fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary or mint.

A variety of autumnal plums.

I love to do this recipe with peaches in summer. But since we’re now at the end of summer, the peaces have finished and we opt for other fruit. Pineapple, with its slightly tangy taste is a good substitute for peaches. See this post for a grape version.

Recipe:

1 large pineapple
juice of 1 lemon
1 vanilla pod
50 ml sugar
2 TBSP butter
50 ml Cointreau
200 ml greek yogurt
200 ml mascarpone

Add the sugar, butter and lemon juice to a saute pan.
Cut the pineapple into bitesize pieces.
Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds.
Add the pineapple and vanilla seeds with the seed pod to the sugar mixture in the pan.
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes until the pineapple starts getting tranlucent and the syrup gets thick.
Pour 50 ml of Cointreau over the pineapples and set alight to flambée the mixture.
When the flames have died down,remove the vanilla pod and leave the pineapples to cool down slightly.
Mix together the greek jogurt and mascarpone until smooth.
Serve the pineapple still warm with a dollop of jogurt and mascarpone.

Serves 6

Cut the pineapple into bite size pieces.

Pour some Cointreau or Armagnac over the hot pineapples.

Set alight to flame.

To set food alight, is something everybody always enjoy. With ooh and aahs, mesmerized by the flames licking the food, we stare at the show. It can of course be very dangerous and not at all should children be allowed to do it. For those inexperienced, don’t do it like you see chefs doing it on television with big drama and whooshing flames up to the ceiling. With 50 ml of alcohol at 40 percent, you already get a spectacular flame. Don’t lean over the casserole you are about to flambé and stand far enough away, but still close enough to have control on what you are doing. You can pour a little alcohol into stainless steel soup ladle with long handle to heat up directly over a flame and light up, then pour the burning alcohol over the pan for effect. Or you can add the alcohol to the warm grapes and then set alight. In both cases, switch off all other gas flames on the stove, stay away from candles and any other flames. If you feel unsure, skip the flambé step. just pour in the Cointreau alcohol over the grapes and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes for the alcohol to cook off. Enjoy and be safe above all else!