Plums still abound. We seem to have had a bumper crop this year, and I can’t resist them with their most loyal companion, star anise, a spice that throws an aromatic shawl over their tart fruit flavour. This combination works as beautifully in savoury sauces and ketchups as it does in sweet jams and ice-creams. In this nutty, brown sugar crumble, I draw on the theme, using the aniseed qualities of tarragon alongside the plums: glowing flavours that thrum together with a light crunch.
Plum, tarragon and hazelnut muscovado crumble
I like to serve this with double cream softly whipped with a few tablespoons of dark rum, some orange zest and a tablespoon of icing sugar.
Prep 20 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4-6
700g plums, washed, halved and stoned
Juice and zest of ½ lemon
100g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence, or the seeds from ½ pod
20g tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
For the topping
130g spelt flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
150g muscovado sugar
100g jumbo oats
150g hazelnuts, roasted and roughly chopped
160g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the plums in a baking dish just large enough to hold them, then toss with the lemon, sugar, vanilla and tarragon, and roast for 10-15 minutes, until the plums are starting to soften.
Meanwhile, make the topping. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, spices, salt, sugar, oats and two-thirds of the nuts. Once combined, lightly rub in the butter with your fingers until the mix has a texture slightly more coarse than breadcrumbs and with some larger lumps. Loosely scatter the crumble topping over the fruit. top with the reserved nuts, then bake for 20-30 minutes, until the crust looks golden and the plum syrup is seeping and bubbling through the crumble at the edges.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then serve with ice-cream, double cream or creme fraiche.
The simple flex
Vegetable oil makes a good alternative to the butter in the crumble topping – try an organic hemp seed or pumpkin seed oil for taste.
