Polenta Plum Cobbler

08-09-2017 Local Black Bookcake, cobbler, dessert, plum, polenta, recipeLeave a comment

Though not quite as popular this side of the Atlantic, cobbler, the American cousin to our much beloved crumble, is a rustic affair of the most delicious sort.

Much like its British relative, it’s hot, sweet and incredibly comforting, especially when it’s of the apricot or plum variety.

Much like its British relative, it’s hot, sweet and incredibly comforting – perfect as the cold nights slowly draw in.

Especially when said cobbler is of the plum variety with a cornbread-meet-biscuit topping.

Sharp, sweet, crunchy and crumbly all at once, this polenta plum cobbler is one of the very best things about Autumn.

Give it a try – you’ll see, it’s a-maize-ing!

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More Autumn pudding ideas

The best (no-frosting) carrot cake (V)

Mustard & onion quiche (V)

Garlic butter mushroom buns (V)

Yoghurt Breakfast Parfait with Plum Compote

14-08-2016 Local Black BookAutumn, blackberry, breakfait parfait, breakfast, cane syrup, compote, fruit, hazelnut, healthy, healthy eating, no-refined sugar, parfait, plum, recipe, vegetarian, yoghurt3 Comments

I might be fooling everybody into believing I’m a city kind of person the majority of the time.

But the second Autumn hits, all my hard work goes right down the drain.

With trees getting covered with fruit and bushes bending with berries, foraging brings out the most countryside-y aspects of my personality, and it’s very likely you’ll find me climbing on trees or getting my hair stuck in brambles in a desperate attempt to fill my fridge with some hand-picked seasonal jewels.

This breakfast parfait recipe was directly inspired by the first blushing plums (delivered to my door by Farmdrop) and a particularly succesful commute blackberry forage.

Combined with creamy Greek yoghurt and crunchy roasted hazelnuts, it makes for a super easy, perfectly seasonal and incredibly satisfying breakfast!

Yoghurt Breakfast Parfait with Plum Compote, blackberries and hazelnuts (serves 2)

Ingredients: 200g Greek yoghurt, 200g plums (stones removed and quartered), 50g blackberries, 25g hazelnuts, 2 tsp cane syrup (or other liquid syrup), 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon powder

1. In a dry pan, roast your hazelnuts for a few minutes until golden, then break them down to small-ish pieces with a mortar and pestle.

2. Comine the plums, cane syrup and cinnamon powder with a tiny bit of water in a hot pan, then simmer until the plums break down and reach a slightly jam-like consistency.

3. Layer the yoghurt, plum compote, fresh blackberries and roasted hazelnuts into two glasses. Top with more blackberries and hazelnuts and serve immediately.

PIN FOR LATER:

Plum crumble with hazelnuts

14-09-2015 Local Black BookAutumn, baking, cake, cinnamon, crumble, dessert, hazelnut, healthy, healthy eating, low sugar, plum, recipe2 Comments

Alright. I had my very first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. Which means it’s officially Autumn (yes, this IS the scientific way to date the beginning of Autumn, didn’t you know?) ??

Which of course means Autumn-ey cakes (because obviously). With a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon in all of them (re-obviously).

Plum & Hazelnut Crumble | Cake + Whisky

And my Sunday (Cake Day!) Plum crumble with hazelnuts was no exception!

Plum & Hazelnut Crumble | Cake + Whisky

Ingredients (serves 4): 400-450g red plums, 25g honey, 15mL lemon juice, 30g flour, 20g sugar, 10g butter, sprinkle of cinnamon, 40g hazelnuts

1. Put your hazelnuts in a mortar and crush them until you get small-ish pieces (it doesn’t have to be super fine as this is a rather rustic recipe)

2. Combine the flour, sugar and butter together in a bowl (you should get a rather fine, sand-like crumble dough). Mix in the cinnamon and the hazelnuts.

3. Cut your plums in 8 and put them in ramequins (or a bigger dish). Add the honey and lemon juice on top.

4. Top with the crumble and bake for about 30 min at 180°C.

I highly recommend you eat them still warm (and maybe with a cheeky scoop or two of vanilla ice cream?).

What’s your go-to Autumn recipe?

Vanilla madeleines with spiced plum compote

16-08-201511-08-2015 Local Black Bookbaking, breakfast, cake, compote, dessert, food, French, madeleine, madeleines, plum, recipe, sweetLeave a comment

I have all sort of obsessions. Postcards, big, snuggly scarves, notebooks… And the biggest of them all, cakes.

Add to that my most recent obsession, stone fruits, and here’s what you get: Traditional vanilla madeleines with spiced plum compote.
A treat I can garantee will become a staple in my house come Autumn. Vanilla madeleines with plum compote | Cake + Whisky It is a bit of work (mainly because you most likely won’t cook all your madeleines in one batch) but the second I dipped my first madeleine into the still-slightly warm plum compote, I knew it was actually time perfectly spent.

For the madeleines

Ingredients: 3 eggs, 125g self-raising flour, 140g sugar, 135g butter, 5 cL milk, 2 teasp runny honey, 2 pinches sea salt, 1 vanilla pod, 1 tsp vegetable oil

1. Melt the butter and keep aside until cool

2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, honey, salt and vanilla seeds until it gets fluffy.

3. Add in the oil and the flour and mix thoroughly.

4. Pour in the butter and the milk and whish until thoroughly combined.

5. Cover your bowl with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 2h.

6. Preheat your oven at 250 °C.

7. Fill the madeleine moulds with the batter (don’t over-fill them!).

8. Lower the oven temperature to 220°C and bake the madeleines for 5 min. Lower the temperature again to 200°C and cook a further 7-9 min.

For the plum compote

Ingredients: 5 purple plums, 1/2 teasp coffee spice (2/3 cinnamon, 1/3 nutmeg), 1 teasp vanilla powder, 2 tsp runny honey

1. In a small pot, cook all your ingredients until the plums are soft enough to be pureed with a fork.

2. Pour in a heat-resistant container and let it cool down a bit before serving.

Cake and Whisky

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