wild fruit recipes
Olive Oil cake with Cherry Plums & Almond Cream
Recipe type: dessert
Author: Chef Louise Mellor
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 16
Ingredients
Recipe type: dessert
Author: Chef Louise Mellor
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 16
Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons organic sugar, divided
- 5 large organic eggs, separated – room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup fruity good quality olive oil
- 1 cup cake flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 pound small stone fruit, cut in half and pits removed
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon organic sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract or Amaretto
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust rack to the middle
- Line 2, 8-9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and lightly wipe all the edges with olive oil.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low for 1 minute until bubbly, add in cream of tartar.
- Turn the mixer up to high and continue to beat egg whites for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, slowly rain in ¼ cup sugar, beat for an additional 1 minute or until whites form soft peaks.
- Transfer whites to a clean bowl and set aside.
- In the same mixing bowl add egg yolks and ½ cup sugar, mix the yolks sugar,and vanilla on high-speed for 2 minutes, they will begin to lighten in color.
- With the mixer running, slowly add in the olive oil and mix for an additional 2 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to the lowest speed, and rain in the flour and salt, scrape down the sides once and mix until just combined.
- With a spatula, gently fold in the flour in thirds until just combined.
- Pour evenly into prepared cake pans and arrange cut fruit over the top of each cake. Don’t worry if your fruit sinks a bit.
- Sprinkle each cake with 1 Tablespoon of sugar over the top.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake side by side for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and the cake begins to slightly pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Remove from the oven and cool.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk cold cream on high until thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Add in sugar and almond extract, continue to whisk on high until cream is thick and smooth. Be careful not to over mix the cream.
- Serve cake with a dollop of cold whipped cream.
Cherry Plum Clafoutis Cups
Copyright Natasha Steinberg
Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 mins
Let’s toss these plums and cherrys in a shortcrust, cover them in custard, and make clafoutis.
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients For crust*
Copyright Natasha Steinberg
Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 mins
Let’s toss these plums and cherrys in a shortcrust, cover them in custard, and make clafoutis.
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients For crust*
- 400 g (about 3½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 170 g (about ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp.) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 455 g (3¼ cups) bread flour
- 9 oz. cherries, stems removed, pitted, and halved
- 9 oz. plums, pitted and chopped into large chunks
- 65 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 15 g (about 2 Tbsp.) bread flour
- 170 g (about ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp.) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) whole milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or ½ vanilla bean (pod and seeds)
- extra whole cherries with stems for garnish
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, mix together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla on low just until combined. Keeping mixer on low, add flour and mix just until the dough comes together and is smooth.
- Remove bowl from mixer stand and gather stray pieces of dough together in the bowl to make a cohesive dough, being careful not to overwork it. Pour dough onto paper lined baking sheet and press into a relatively flat, even rectangle. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle, about 20 minutes.
- Grease jumbo muffin pan and set aside. In a large bowl, gently toss fruit with 65 g sugar and set aside.
- Take about ⅔ of the dough and roll out ⅛ inch thick. With a large biscuit cutter, cut circles of dough and shimmy into muffin cups, pressing into the edges and lightly up the sides of the cups. With a fork, poke the bottom and side of each cup of dough and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
- While dough is in the freezer, position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Remove pan from the freezer, line each cup with foil, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake for 2 minutes more. The dough should be set and golden on the edges. Remove the pan from the oven to let cool while you make the filling.
- Pour the fruit into a strainer placed over a large bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and sugar. Whisk in eggs and cream. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together milk and vanilla bean paste or vanilla bean and heat until bubbly on the sides (i.e., scald the milk). Gradually whisk the hot milk (first removing the bean if using) into the egg mixture until combined.
- Fill each cup to the crust’s top with fruit, first a layer of plums topped with a layer of cherries, cut side up. Pour custard over fruit, filling as close to the top of each crust as possible without spilling over. Carefully place pan in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until custard is set. Let cool about 15 minutes then remove each cup to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator. These are best the day they are made but aren’t too shabby the next day either.
Cherry Plum Cordial Version 1
Copyright Norfolk Kitchen
I weighed out 2 kilos of cherry plums, added 600ml of water and simmered gently til they were falling apart. The smell of the hot fruit at this stage was divine, delicate, sweet and fragrant. I helped them on their way by bashing up the fruit with a wooden spoon and a potato masher. I then strained the cooked plums in a jelly bag for several hours.
The resulting juice was measured and for every litre, 700g of sugar added (though this is variable to personal taste) I warmed the juice til the sugar dissolved and then used a scalded funnel to pour the cordial into warmed bottles.
The taste is sharper than I anticipated, making it adult friendly too, add sparkling water and crushed ice for a sophisticated summer soft drink
Copyright Norfolk Kitchen
I weighed out 2 kilos of cherry plums, added 600ml of water and simmered gently til they were falling apart. The smell of the hot fruit at this stage was divine, delicate, sweet and fragrant. I helped them on their way by bashing up the fruit with a wooden spoon and a potato masher. I then strained the cooked plums in a jelly bag for several hours.
The resulting juice was measured and for every litre, 700g of sugar added (though this is variable to personal taste) I warmed the juice til the sugar dissolved and then used a scalded funnel to pour the cordial into warmed bottles.
The taste is sharper than I anticipated, making it adult friendly too, add sparkling water and crushed ice for a sophisticated summer soft drink
Cherry Plum Cordial Version 2
Copyright Sally Wise
Cherry plums seem to be in abundance this year and often, after making a batch or two of jam, we are wondering what we can do with the remainder. Cordial syrup is a great choice. The red variety will turn out a sensational scarlet colour, the yellow ones not so much, but the flavour is still great.
The syrup, aside from its use as a cordial syrup, can be used as a coulis to have ready to hand at any time. Use as a topping for ice cream, or even to flavour a batch of homemade ice cream or panna cotta, or swirl into yoghurt. Add a teaspoon of the syrup to a gravy or casserole even, delicious.
You can also use cherry plums to make the sparkling fruit drinks by the way – just squish them a little as you throw them into the bucket. The fizz develops much sooner with plums than other fruit – maybe even after two or three days in the bottle, so watch for that and refrigerate as soon as this happens.
Ingredients
3kg cherry plums
12 cups water
sugar
3 teaspoons tartaric acid
¼ cup cider vinegar
Instructions
Place the plums and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer 15 minutes, by which time the fruit should have released its juices and be very soft. Pour the mixture into a colander (with another pot underneath to collect the liquid), then strain the resulting fruit liquid through a fine sieve or another colander lined with a single thickness of muslin or other thin cloth.
For each cup of liquid, measure 1 cup of sugar. Bring this mixture to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat immediately to a bare simmer and cook for two minutes. Stir in the vinegar and tartaric acid.
Pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately.
Use one part syrup to 4 to 5 parts of water or soda water.
Copyright Sally Wise
Cherry plums seem to be in abundance this year and often, after making a batch or two of jam, we are wondering what we can do with the remainder. Cordial syrup is a great choice. The red variety will turn out a sensational scarlet colour, the yellow ones not so much, but the flavour is still great.
The syrup, aside from its use as a cordial syrup, can be used as a coulis to have ready to hand at any time. Use as a topping for ice cream, or even to flavour a batch of homemade ice cream or panna cotta, or swirl into yoghurt. Add a teaspoon of the syrup to a gravy or casserole even, delicious.
You can also use cherry plums to make the sparkling fruit drinks by the way – just squish them a little as you throw them into the bucket. The fizz develops much sooner with plums than other fruit – maybe even after two or three days in the bottle, so watch for that and refrigerate as soon as this happens.
Ingredients
3kg cherry plums
12 cups water
sugar
3 teaspoons tartaric acid
¼ cup cider vinegar
Instructions
Place the plums and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer 15 minutes, by which time the fruit should have released its juices and be very soft. Pour the mixture into a colander (with another pot underneath to collect the liquid), then strain the resulting fruit liquid through a fine sieve or another colander lined with a single thickness of muslin or other thin cloth.
For each cup of liquid, measure 1 cup of sugar. Bring this mixture to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat immediately to a bare simmer and cook for two minutes. Stir in the vinegar and tartaric acid.
Pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately.
Use one part syrup to 4 to 5 parts of water or soda water.
Cherry Plum Wine Version 1
Copyright River Cottage
Ingredients
Add the sugar and stir and allow to cool to room temperature.
Pour into a plastic fermentation bucket.
Activate the yeast as per packet instructions.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Leave for a week. Siphon into demi-johns. Fit an airlock.
Rack off into new demi-johns after about four weeks.
Two or three weeks later bottle it.
Copyright River Cottage
Ingredients
- 3.5 kg cherry plums
- 1.4 kg sugar
- approximately 3.5 litres of water
- 1 sachet wine yeast – any red wine yeast will do nicely
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1 tsp pectolase
- 1 tsp tannin
Add the sugar and stir and allow to cool to room temperature.
Pour into a plastic fermentation bucket.
Activate the yeast as per packet instructions.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Leave for a week. Siphon into demi-johns. Fit an airlock.
Rack off into new demi-johns after about four weeks.
Two or three weeks later bottle it.
Cherry Plum Wine Version 2
Copyright The Guardian
Ingredients
2.8 kg cherry plums
1.4 kg sugar
approximately 4 litres of water
1 sachet wine yeast – any red wine yeast will do nicely
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
Instructions
Getting the juice out of the plums is an interesting exercise. You could, as I have, experiment with treading them, but the most sensible way is to boil one litre of the water and pour it over the fruit then use the end of a rolling pin to crush the fruit until there are no lumps left. Leave for a few hours then add the rest of the water and the pectolase (as any jam maker knows, plums are well provided with the pectin that makes jam set - and wine cloudy).
Leave a couple of days then strain through a fine sieve. Put the juice into a saucepan, bring quickly to a boil then immediately turn off the heat. (I recklessly omitted the boiling bit last year and my two gallons of unsterilised "must" quickly suffered the attention of acetobacter which produces acetic acid which in turn reacts with the alcohol to produce nail varnish remover – acetone. The whole lot had to be chucked and I was very upset).
Pour the hot juice over the sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient. Make the volume to 4.5 litres if necessary. Pour into your demijohn using a funnel. Add the trap. Rack off into a clean demijohn after four to six weeks and again a few weeks later if you want. Bottle when clear – or if it refuses to clear completely, bottle it anyway.
Copyright The Guardian
Ingredients
2.8 kg cherry plums
1.4 kg sugar
approximately 4 litres of water
1 sachet wine yeast – any red wine yeast will do nicely
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
Instructions
Getting the juice out of the plums is an interesting exercise. You could, as I have, experiment with treading them, but the most sensible way is to boil one litre of the water and pour it over the fruit then use the end of a rolling pin to crush the fruit until there are no lumps left. Leave for a few hours then add the rest of the water and the pectolase (as any jam maker knows, plums are well provided with the pectin that makes jam set - and wine cloudy).
Leave a couple of days then strain through a fine sieve. Put the juice into a saucepan, bring quickly to a boil then immediately turn off the heat. (I recklessly omitted the boiling bit last year and my two gallons of unsterilised "must" quickly suffered the attention of acetobacter which produces acetic acid which in turn reacts with the alcohol to produce nail varnish remover – acetone. The whole lot had to be chucked and I was very upset).
Pour the hot juice over the sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient. Make the volume to 4.5 litres if necessary. Pour into your demijohn using a funnel. Add the trap. Rack off into a clean demijohn after four to six weeks and again a few weeks later if you want. Bottle when clear – or if it refuses to clear completely, bottle it anyway.
CHERRY PLUM JAM - This sweet-tart stuff can be used as a sauce. It is is great on ice cream, chocolate cake, or plain yogurt.
CHERRY PLUM JAM Version 1
Copyright www.eatweeds.co.uk
Ingredients
Instructions
Copyright www.eatweeds.co.uk
Ingredients
- 4 LB (1.8 kg) Cherry Plums
- 4 LB (1.8 kg) brown cane sugar
- 1/2 pint (280ml) of water
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a large flat-bottomed pan.
- Stir and bring to the boil. Boil until the skins start coming off and the fruit comes away from the stones.
- At this point, pour the Cherry Plum jam mixture into a large piece of muslin and squeeze out fruit pulp and back in to the pan.
- Continue boiling the jam mixture until ‘setting point’ is reached. Which can take as long as 30 minutes.
- Setting Point: Put a couple of saucers into a fridge to chill. It is best to do this a bit before you start making the Cherry Plum jam. Using a teaspoon, let a few drops of the jam mixture drip on to a chilled saucer and allow it to cool for a short while. Now push your finger sideways against the jam. When it is at the right setting point, the jam should crinkle, and be nice and tacky.
- Pour into sterilised jam jars and screw the lid on.
Cherry Plum Jam Version 2
Copyright 'Kitchen Travels'
Description
Sweet-tart and juicy cherry plum jam, made from fruit picked right in my urban neighborhood. Only 4 ingredients—so easy and delicious! Makes great refrigerator jam, too: Just pour into jars, cool then store in the fridge or freezer.
Ingredients
1. Prepare a boiling water canner that is tall enough to ensure you have at least 2″ of water covering the top of your jars, plus space to allow for a hard boil without slopping over the rim. Fill the canner with the appropriate amount of water and bring to a boil while you proceed with the next steps.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large pot over medium-high heat, stirring and mashing the mixture until the sugar dissolves. (A potato masher works well for this.)
3. Turn off heat. Place a sieve over a large bowl. Carefully pour the hot mixture through the sieve and into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Set pot aside. Remove pits from the sieve, reserving any fruit and skins left in the sieve. Add reserved fruit mash into the bowl with the strained mixture. Note: If you’re lucky enough to own a food mill, simply run the mixture through the mill.
3. Return the fruit mixture to the pot. Bring it slowly to a boil, then cook rapidly to the gelling point and thickened. Stir frequently as the jam thickens to prevent sticking or burning.
4. Remove from heat. Ladle hot jam into clean, hot jars.
For Ball or Kerr style jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean and top with hot lids. Screw bands onto the jars just until finger tight.
For Weck jars, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean and top with glass lids to which you’ve already attached the rubber rings. Clamp shut.
5. Process jars in a boiling water canner (212°F or 100°C) for 15 minutes. Remove jars immediately and set them upright on a clean towel or wooden surface, away from drafts. Let jars sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
Carefully remove metal bands (Ball/Kerr) or clips (Weck). Check for proper seals. Label the jars and store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to a year.
Yield: 7 to 8 half-pints.
Copyright 'Kitchen Travels'
Description
Sweet-tart and juicy cherry plum jam, made from fruit picked right in my urban neighborhood. Only 4 ingredients—so easy and delicious! Makes great refrigerator jam, too: Just pour into jars, cool then store in the fridge or freezer.
Ingredients
- 10 cups Whole Cherry Plums
- 6 cups Sugar
- ¼ cups Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- ¼ cups Water
1. Prepare a boiling water canner that is tall enough to ensure you have at least 2″ of water covering the top of your jars, plus space to allow for a hard boil without slopping over the rim. Fill the canner with the appropriate amount of water and bring to a boil while you proceed with the next steps.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large pot over medium-high heat, stirring and mashing the mixture until the sugar dissolves. (A potato masher works well for this.)
3. Turn off heat. Place a sieve over a large bowl. Carefully pour the hot mixture through the sieve and into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Set pot aside. Remove pits from the sieve, reserving any fruit and skins left in the sieve. Add reserved fruit mash into the bowl with the strained mixture. Note: If you’re lucky enough to own a food mill, simply run the mixture through the mill.
3. Return the fruit mixture to the pot. Bring it slowly to a boil, then cook rapidly to the gelling point and thickened. Stir frequently as the jam thickens to prevent sticking or burning.
4. Remove from heat. Ladle hot jam into clean, hot jars.
For Ball or Kerr style jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean and top with hot lids. Screw bands onto the jars just until finger tight.
For Weck jars, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean and top with glass lids to which you’ve already attached the rubber rings. Clamp shut.
5. Process jars in a boiling water canner (212°F or 100°C) for 15 minutes. Remove jars immediately and set them upright on a clean towel or wooden surface, away from drafts. Let jars sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
Carefully remove metal bands (Ball/Kerr) or clips (Weck). Check for proper seals. Label the jars and store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to a year.
Yield: 7 to 8 half-pints.