Plum & Cardamom Crumble with Vanilla Custard

I have thing for Plums. So much so, there is a whole chapter in the book dedicated to them, and as the autumn sets in and the world seems to be falling into a slumber the last of the plums can be found in the local farms shops. Yes, I know that crumble is a little old fashioned, but it’s comforting as the nights draw in. By adding cardamom and jazzing up the topping it gives a fresh perspective on this old favorite, and you can further keep it healthy, by using rapeseed oil in the topping. The deep dark plums sit, stewed in sweetness under a light aromatic crunchy topping. For me it has to be served in a great puddle of creamy vanilla custard. The cardamom binds with the rich plumy base and the vanilla floats effortlessly across the top. There you have it ... a delicious sophisticated crumble.

Makes crumble for 6 - 8 people

Base

800g plums

60g sugar

25g butter

Topping

230g oats

125g sweetened desiccated coconut

100g flaked almonds

50g sugar

1 level tsp ground cardamom

125ml of rapeseed oil

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 Remove the stones from the plums. Place in an ovenproof dish about 10 inches wide and 2 inches deep. Sprinkle the sugar and butter over evenly.

2 Mix all the dry ingredients together, and then drizzle the rapeseed oil. Mix really well.

3 Sprinkle this topping over the plums and bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until the topping is a light golden brown and the fruit is bubbling away underneath the crumble topping.

Wait a few minutes for the crumble to cool before serving with warm vanilla custard or thick cream.

Makes 750ml of custard

Vanilla Custard

500ml full fat milk

200 ml double cream

5 egg yolks

100g vanilla sugar

1 In a heavy based saucepan place the milk, cream, and egg yolks sugar and stir on a low heat, and keep moving this lightly using a whisk

2 Keep stirring as the custard thickens. This can take 10 – 15 minutes so take your time an don’t be tempted to heat it quickly ( .. you will get scrambled eggs!) The mixture will thicken. When the custard coats the back of a spoon remove from the heat.

Note: Don’t throw your vanilla pod away. Wash and dry it and add it to your sugar pot.

My Parents Vineyard Wins Top Awards

My parents are extraordinary people. As my Mum and Dad they get a gold medal for being supportive. In fact just today my father picked up my three children fed them their tea and looked after them all afternoon (and alone, as my mother was out !) .. whilst I was being filmed cooking Chili Chocolate cakes at home.... in peace.

But I am not writing about their babysitting skills. I am writing about their brilliant wine making skills. ... for my parents have just won some of the top awards in the British wine industry for their wine.

I am so proud of them.

The Mercian Vineyards Association is one of 6 representative bodies for vineyards and wine enthusiasts in Britain. It is a member of the United Kingdom Vineyards Association and has members from all over the UK. There were 150 wines in the competition and Fleurfields won the following awards:

• The best Mercian Sparkling Wine
• The best Vintage Wine
• The best wine in the East midlands
• Silver Medal awarded to the pink Bubbly Champs d’amour de Rose
• Bronze medal awarded to Champs D’amour.

So now my parents have their own award-winning vineyard.

Fantastic!

How lucky am I?

Very is the answer

Discovering a Local Plum Orchard

Each of the chapters in Prepped follows a flavour. Researching into the flavour is part of the background, and the fun, of writing this book. These next few weeks I shall be working on plums. Their round shiny, smooth skin giving way to sweet succulent orange flesh, they are summer lusciousness itself. Of course I know that there are Victoria plums, but aside from that I’ve never given much thought to which varieties make the best cooking .. so to find out more I thought I’d find a local orchard. After 2 hours of searching on the internet, and several phone calls to find a plum orchard anywhere .. at all ... in Northamptonshire I gave up. Instead I called Mansfield Farm in Kent. They grow about 8 varieties of plum and supply Waitrose. Craig, the manager was more than helpful and despite a protest from my husband, we were due to drive to Kent this weekend, to meet Craig and find out more about plums. Luckily for Alastair, I was complaining about lack of local fruit to Mrs Smith in our nearby farm shop, when she smiled and said that I needed to go and see Andy at New Creation Farm – just 5 miles away. I was, of course, a little disappointed not to be meeting with Craig, he sounded so interesting. However, I was seriously delighted to discover a local orchard. Andy kindly agreed to give me a special tour of the orchards and rather than just take photos I decided to try and share some of the visit with you. Forgive the home video approach, I am new to this side of things, but I hope you will enjoy the footage despite this. Thank you Andy, I shall be returning bearing plum food gifts soon.