Ingredients
- 25g (1oz) unsalted butter
- 1 vanilla pod, split, and its seeds
- 1tsp ground allspice
- 115g (4oz) soft light brown sugar
- 550g (1lb 4oz) slightly under-ripe plums, stoned and cut into quarters
- grated zest 1 lemon
- grated zest 1 lime
- for the crumble
- 225g (8oz) plain flour
- 115g (4oz) Jordans Original Crunchy Cereal with Raisins and Almonds, or a similar cereal
- 115g (4oz) soft light brown sugar
- 175g (6oz) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into small cubes
- to serve
- clotted cream and/or vanilla ice cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C, 180 C (fan oven), 400 F, gas 6. In a pan, melt the butter, add the vanilla pod and its seeds and warm through for a few minutes – the aroma is fantastic.
Add the allspice and sugar and stir well. The butter will separate but don’t worry, this is normal. Cook for a few minutes, stirring all the time.
Add the plums and the lemon and lime zests to the pan and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. As the plums start to break down, the juices and the sugar mix together and the sauce takes on a lovely, silky-smooth toffee-like consistency. When the plums are soft, tip the mixture into an ovenproof dish and leave to cool.
To make the crumble, put the flour, cereal and sugar into a food processor and blend. Add the butter, switch to the pulse button and blend again until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Spoon the crumble topping over the cooled plums. Bake for about 20 minutes or until evenly browned, then serve warm with clotted cream and/or vanilla ice cream.
Top Tip for making Phil Vickery’s Plum, Vanilla and Allspice Crumble with Clotted Cream
Chef’s secrets 1) Home-grown plums are available from the end of July to early October. If you buy under-ripe ones, you can ripen the fruit at home by storing them in a warmish place. 2) If you are eating plums or any fruit, raw, make sure they are at room temperature as the cold kills flavour. 3) Serve crumble warm, never hot – the flavour is sublime.
