There are few things that feel more comforting than this warm dessert, infused with mulled, Christmas spices. This pudding is a twist on the classic crumble, using plums, which perfectly take on the spices and cook down to be sort of jam like, but still holding their shape and a little tart too - topped with a hearty crumble topping, all crisp and perfectly golden brown.
This is the type of recipe that feels your home with the warm smells of the spices and really bring on that Christmas feeling. This recipe is super easy to prepare and only takes 20 minutes in the oven, I even used the same dish that I prepared the fruit in to bake the crumble - especially at Christmas, you want to save on washing up when you can and this dish goes from stove top to oven to table!
Christmas is all about luxury and you may find it a little odd that I went for wholemeal flour and whole rolled oats; but I find that the texture they bring, is far superior to that of white flour and porridge oats - resulting in a perfectly crisp crumble topping! I also added some hazelnut pieces for extra flavour and crunch! This dish has the perfect amount of sweetness when using slightly under-ripe plums, I used them on the day of purchasing and I prefer the slightly tart flavour of them, so if your plums are ripe, perhaps use a little less sugar in the mulled fruit stage. I used mulled wine spices for this - for ease at Christmas I used the pre-mixed type - they come in little tea bags and I put them in the pan with the simmering plums, to infuse.
This dessert is great for a Christmas meal and even better that you can make it the day before - if it lasts that long after it fills your house with the perfect, warming smells of cinnamon, orange zest and cloves. I personally love serving crumble with some warm (vegan) custard, but some vanilla ice cream would also be delicious, to highlight the delicate spices in this dish. The recipe is pretty generous, serving 6-8 people and will last up to 5 days in the fridge (good luck making it last more than a day!).
Spiced Plum Crumble | Serves: 6-8 | Time: 45 minutes
You'll need
- Cast iron pan/ oven-proof deep pan + lid
- Chopping board
- knife
- fine grater/zester
- Large bowl
- measuring cups
Ingredients
Plums:
- 1KG plums ( a little under-ripe is better)
- 2 bags mulled wine spices (they look like tea bags)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 unwaxed orange
- 3 tbsp demerara sugar
Crumble topping:
- 1 cup plain wholemeal flour
- 1 cup whole rolled oats
- 1/3 cup demerara sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup hazelnut pieces
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
Method
- Cut the plums around the stone in the middle (like an avocado) and again the other way, then pull the pieces apart so you have quarters and remove the pit. Then pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
- Add to the heat-proof pan with 2 bags of mulled wine spices, 2 cinnamon sticks, the zest of an orange, the juice of half the orange and 3 tbsp sugar. Heat gently at first, put the lid on for 5 minutes, allowing the heat to build up, then remove the lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- To make the crumble topping, add the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and hazelnut pieces to a large bowl, combine well and then add the butter. Mix in with your hands so the butter is evenly distributed.
- Remove the spices from the plums and spread the crumble mixture over the top, place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp on top. Serve up with some warm vegan custard or vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Cassidy xx
