Life

James Street Cookery School: You'd be plum crazy not to try these warming desserts

Niall's delicious-sounding baked plums in rum
Niall's delicious-sounding baked plums in rum Niall's delicious-sounding baked plums in rum

IT CAN be hard to use up all the produce we buy in a weekly shop and when fruit goes soft or stays in the fridge too long it can lose flavour – but the best way is to bake.

This week’s recipes are two desserts, a classic lattice tart and baked plums with rum, a fabulous finale to any meal that's quick and easy to make.

I make my own pastry for the restaurant – there's something of an achievement in doing so, perfecting your technique and recipe. However, shop-bought pastry can be just as good.

BAKED PLUMS IN RUM

(Serves 5)

6 plums, halved and stone removed

Butter to grease

3 tbsp of granulated sugar

1 tsp of lemon zest

1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp of rum

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Method:

Grease a baking tray with the butter and pre-heat the oven to 180C. Halve the plums and remove the stones. Mix the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, rum and vanilla extract in a bowl. Toss the plums in and place them on the baking tray. Spoon the remaining mix over the plums and bake for about 12 minutes – not too soft!

Remove from the oven. Serve warm with a spoon of vanilla ice cream and with a spoonful of the juices from the baking tray.

PLUM LATTICE TART

225g plain flour

110g cold butter, cubed

30g icing sugar, sieved

Zest of an orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

Butter to grease

2 eggs, 1 for mix, 1 for basting the pastry case

For the filling:

8 plums, still firm, halved and stone removed

150ml red wine

75g brown sugar

3 tbsp of honey

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

Method:

Grease a loose-bottomed tart tin and line with greaseproof paper. Pre-heat your oven to 180C.

For the pastry, sieve the flour into a bowl and add the diced butter. Rub until mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar, orange zest, egg and vanilla extract and bring together the wet and dry ingredients to form a firm dough. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the mix into a think pastry. Line the tin, ensuring there is an overhang of pastry. Trim the excess and keep for the lattice. Prick the base lightly with a fork and cover with greaseproof paper. Line with baking beans and place in the oven. Bake until golden and crisp (approximately 15 minutes). Remove and set aside.

For the filling, place the plums in a heavy-based pan and add in the ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes until the plums have softened. Remove the plums from the pan and leave the juices to reduce to a sticky, jam consistency. Remove the cinnamon stick and the star anise.

Arrange the plums in the pastry shell and cover with the jam. Roll out the pastry strips for the lattice (approximately 1cm wide) and weave across the top of the tart. Brush with egg white and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180C. Remove, allow to cool and set then serve with cream.