A beautiful, delicious and simple (and vegan and gluten-free) late summer/early autumn dessert. I usually make it with plums alone, but as I had a handful of dark red cherries on the countertop, I threw these in as well. It lovely served with some whipped cream, or perhaps some curd cheese cream - or, as I ate it yesterday, au naturel.
Cherry and Plum Compote
(Ploomikompott)
Serves 4
about 500 g (a large punnet) of plums or damsons
150 ml water (2/3 cup)
100 g sugar (just under half a cup)
3 Tbsp potato starch or cornflour + 3 Tbsp water
Wash the plums, halve and remove the stones. Place sugar, water and plums into a medium-sized saucepan and simmer for about 7-10 minutes, until plums are soft and starting to disintegrate.
Mix starch with some cold flour pour into the compote, whisking/stirring rigorously to avoid any lumps. If you are using potato starch, then remove the saucepan from the heat source just after the first few bubbles appear again. If you are using cornflour, then simmer on a low heat for a few minutes, until the compote starts to thicken. Remove from the heat.
Cool before serving.
sounds like a good recipe, but does it need so much sugar in it? I am trying to cut down on sugar, and wonder if there is another way to sweeten this dish?
ReplyDeleteHolly, feel free to reduce the amount of sugar. I didn't find the amount of sugar excessive (and I don't like things sweet, as anyone knows who's tried my cakes). However, plums often get sharper and more sour in flavour when subjected to heat (especially on top of cakes), so too little sugar can mean the compote ends up too sour.
ReplyDeleteIt depends a lot on the flavour of the plums. Feel free to experiment with less sugar..
Pille, are you the gorgeous blonde Estonian girl who worked in the L'aduree patisserie in London (Burlington Arcade) during the summer months of 2007/8?
ReplyDeleteJan, I'm blonde, gorgeous and Estonian, but not the girl from the Laduree shop :D :D :D
ReplyDeleteEverybody's recipes and photos are so fresh looking and summery. I'll miss all this fresh fruit when winter returns, but in the meantime, we make the most of it and enjoy every bite. Thank you for another lovely recipe and photographs.
ReplyDeleteOur tongue gets used to a consistent sugar level, whatever amount we use. I consistently halve sugar called for in recipes, and everything still tastes sweet. The freshest fruit sometimes needs no sugar.
Kathleen
Pille, thank you for replying :) Two years ago I fell in love with the Estonian girl I mentioned, but before I could talk to her she left London, and she hasn't been back since. Now, I'm searching the world for her to tell her that I love her. Truly, Estonian girls are the most beautiful women on Earth! Best wishes, and congratulations on your exceptionally fantastic blog.
ReplyDeleteLove these simple ways to prepare fruit...I imagine this would be excellent with some yogurt too :)
ReplyDeleteIn the UK we pick wild cherry plums which are neither a cherry nor a plum. This recipes would lend itself perfectly to using cherry plums instead of the usual cherry plum jam.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a squidoo lens about identifying cherry plums you can read it here and if you don't mind I added your page in the recipe section.
http://www.squidoo.com/frugal-food-foraging-wild-plums-cherry-plums-and-bollaces