Have you been following? I'm down to 2 1/2 pounds of dried plums and still figuring out ways to eat them. In fact, they are quite moist as is, yet tasteless if popped into your mouth ... lacking the sugar and heat of say, dried ginger. So if you want flavor, you have to turn them into desserts. Following are 2 plum desserts that look especially appealing to me. Eash sweet can be baked in a square baking pan, then cut into squares if you wish.
The 1st dessert is less work than traditional English plum pudding, its cousin across the pond (which surprisingly contains no plums). This one does --
Plum Pudding With Caramelized Sauce
Ingredients:2 cups dried plums, chopped
1/2 cup of boiling hot water
1 stick soft butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped
Start with 1/2 cup of milk -- up to 1 cup (Step 6 explains.)
Directions:
1) In a separate bowl, let the diced plums soak in boiling hot water for 1 hour. (My dried plums were very moist out of the bag so I didn't have to soak to rehydrate them.)
2) In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugars, and eggs.
3) Sprinkle in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4) Add the flavors, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
5) Toss in the plums with water and walnuts.
6) Starting with 1/2 cup milk, add to get a not too thick or too thin batter consistency. I used nearly 1 cup of milk. Stop before you arrive at runny.
7) Pour into a well-buttered square baking pan.
8) Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until done in the center. While baking you can make the sauce.
Caramelized Brown Sugar SauceIngredients:
1 stick of softened butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon good Kentucky bourbon
Directions:
1) Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2) Stir in the sugar and continue whisking.
3) Dissolve the cornstarch into the milk and add it to the mixture continuing to whisk while the sauce simmers and thickens.
4) Finish off near the end by flavoring with the bourbon.
After cooling down a bit, pour the Caramelized Brown Sugar Sauce over the Plum Pudding.
Note: I'll omit the sauce the next time I make this dessert. Everyone agreed the cake is moist and tasty without it. We put sauce on the side, and nobody ate it after a bite. We liked the sauce but it didn't improve the cake or pudding as it is called.
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The 2nd dessert is a crumble ... crisp, crumble, cobbler, to know the difference go here.
Plum Berry Crumble
Ingredients:
Filling Ingredients --
💟 2 cups plums, soaked in 1 cup of boiled hot water for 1 hour.
💟 Then pour the plumped-up plums with the water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into a blender (or food processor) to puree.
💟 1 1/2 cups blueberries (or a mixture of berries) - leave whole
Batter Ingredients --
1 stick softened butter (Eyeball the consistency. It should be crumbly. You can add a 2nd stick of butter if needed. I try to cut back on the fat and sugar when possible without ruining the dessert.)
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cardamon
3 cups Quaker Oats (1 minute, or old fashioned works)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
Directions:
1) In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar.
2) Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together.
3) Toss in the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.
4) Divide the batter in half.
5) Press half of the batter in the bottom of a well-buttered square baking pan.
6) Spread the filling of plum puree and toss some whole blueberries (or other berries) on top of the bottom batter.
7) Spoon the remaining batter on top of the filling.
8) Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Much maligned, who knew dried plums and prunes (which are Italian plums) make such tasty desserts? And, the healthy dried plums have a convenient no-rush self-life! We can always have a bag of dried fruit waiting in the pantry.💜
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