Morning all, and a very happy Valentines Day to you. Hm – I must confess to originally feeling a bit poo bummy about posting a recipe for V Day, but then I thought – how bloody ridiculous! This dessert which can be made for your love, but also for a bunch of mates, is perfect for this time of year, making the most of lush ripe tart/sweet plums with a scoop of creamy, plummy ice cream on the side. The whole thing is too simple – basically you just cut the plums in half, dot with a wee bit of butter, sprinkle with sugar and bung in the oven. The ice cream takes five minutes to make (then just needs time to freeze) and uses my favourite tinned Black Doris plums. If you want to make this in a hurry, just buy vanilla bean ice cream, allow it to soften slightly then drain and remove the stones from the tinned plums, mash and swirl through the ice cream and refreeze for 2-3 hours – ta dah!
…and in other news, not a hell of a lot to report really. The dogs are at the kennels at the moment, which is a revelation (the freedom, lack of yapping/walking/poo patrols/wees on the carpet – heaven), so I was able to zoom over to Waiheke unfettered to stay with some great friends last weekend. Hilarious how you can feel like you’re having a party with just three people – fabulous. Other than that its business as usual. Friday I am super excited to be flying down to Welly for the day to check out Rich’s new abode – he seems to have settled in beautifully, having unpacked, found a job, been cooking up a storm and got stuck in, in just a few weeks. Meanwhile Pog is hard at work at uni, Kit & Ace and on the book – I am so grateful to have his unparalleled eye working it’s magic on the layout and design, and inch by inch we’re making progress! So that’s it really…have a great day, and I’ll see you here again soon 🙂
850g tin Black Doris plums (I used Watties)
200ml cream
395g tin sweetened condensed milk
6 plums
1 1/2 tsp butter
1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
1/4 cup lightly toasted flaked almonds
Drain the tinned plums reserving the syrup. Remove the stones and any bigger bits of skin from the plums and mash well with a fork. Whip the cream to soft peaks in a large bowl. Add the sweetened condensed milk and beat until thick and smooth. Add the mashed plums and whisk to combine. Pour into a 1 1/2 litre capacity container and freeze for at least 6 hours. Put the reserved syrup in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool and reserve the syrup to pour on top of the dessert.
Preheat the oven to 180ËšC (350ËšF) and line an oven tray with baking paper. Halve the ripe plums, remove the stones and place close together, cut side up on the tray. Divide the butter between the centre of the plums and sprinkle with sugar. Roast for 15 minutes. Serve the plums with Black Doris ice cream, almonds and a drizzle of syrup. Serves 6