Plums and damsons are some of the greatest treats of early autumn — better still, they’re home-grown, too. If the fruit is a little firm and sour (damsons always are, in particular), it’s well worth poaching them. The cooking and sugar will work miracles to bring out the soft tartness.
Bring sugar syrup (twice the volume of water to weight of sugar should work) to the boil first to dissolve, then gently drop the fruit in whole, skins and all. Regulate to a very calm burble, then cover.
The fruit can take between 5 and 15 minutes to reach tender perfection, depending on how ripe it is. Switch off heat and allow it to cool.
You can add all sorts of herbs and spices to the sugar syrup at the start: lemon verbena or scented geranium leaves for something floral; thyme, bay or rosemary for a clean, herby spike; or spices such as cinnamon, ginger and cardamom for a familiar autumnal fragrance.
The fruit can be served warm or cold, with the liquid boiled, reduced and poured over (it will freeze happily in its poaching syrup, too), and cream or mascarpone on the side. Or you could strain the liquid and set with gelatine for one of the most satisfying home-made jellies, serving the fruit whole or pur?ed alongside, and ice cream.
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The darker plums are the most rewarding to use for crumble — their juice will bubble up, staining the topping perfectly. Unless you are using damsons, which are impossible to stone raw, it is worth getting rid of the stones first, then saut?ing the plums in a little butter and sugar before generously scattering with topping. Almonds make wonderful companions to the fruit, and it’s well worth including some ground almonds in your crumble mix.
Used in lots of savoury Eastern European dishes, plums are less frequent savoury companions here. But they do make a wonderfully piquant gravy for rich meat roasts such as lamb, pork and game. Poach and pur?e them, then stir into the roasting pan for the final 15 minutes. Remove the meat and deglaze the pan with white wine and a little balsamic vinegar, allowing the alcohol to bubble off before decanting.
Better yet, make plum vodka by soaking a kilogram of fruit and 700g sugar in 1.5 litres of vodka. Store somewhere cool and dark for six weeks, turning from time to time. Strain the liquid off into clean bottles, and suck up the fruit for pudding, pur?ed and folded into whipped cream.