Damson Jam

The next three recipes on my blog are a bit of a autumnal plum special. Two of my favourite fruits are in season and they both happen to be plums damson and greengage. The harvest is very short on these kinds of plum so you'd better be quick and source them if want to make these recipes.

In another note, my lovely friend Etienne who has been taking all my pictures for this blog has had to stop due to his busy schedule on a fashion magazine and producing music. He's been getting up at the time rock stars go to bed to come take pictures at Kaffeine, for that I'm eternally grateful and happy. His skills, friendship and dedication has been amazing.

Sadiq, who originally put my blog together, encouraged me to write down all my recipes is back and he's taken a fresh batch of super lovely pictures for everyone's viewing pleasure. So expect to see some extra little features and a makeover shortly. In the mean time let's go bats over plums.

1.2kg damson plums, washed
1kg sugar
1 lemon

Method:
Put plums in a large heavy-based saucepan and place over a low-medium heat, stir every now and then so the plums don't burn to the bottom of the pan. Once the plums have started to break down and are lightly simmering, add the juice of the lemon and sugar. Turn up the heat to high, stir gently and leave to cook for about 25 minutes. Place a small saucer in the fridge to chill, you will need this to test setting point once jam is cooked. Stir the jam once in while to prevent burning, but try to resist the urge to continuously stir the jam as this will affect the setting. To test if the jam is ready, spoon a small amount onto the chilled saucer and leave in the fridge for 1 minute, then run your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles and doesn't merge back together then it's ready. Pour the jam through a fine sieve and using a wooden spoon push through the flesh and discard the stones. Then ladle the jam into sterilised jars and screw on the lids while still warm. Leave to set for a couple of days before using.

Greengage and Lavender Muffins

As summer ends several varieties of special plums make an appearance. Greengage are sweet and smaller than regular plums and the flesh is a golden green colour. Amazing on their own or baked, we can even make a lovely conserve with them.
Near my grandparents house in New Zealand is a lavender farm and they would grow mainly Angustifolia which is ideal for cooking, compared to other varieties of lavender which are too bitter for baking. Quite often people put lavender in with sugar to infuse and give a fragrance which is a nice idea when making a cup of tea. There was even a brief period in the late 90's where home economist would add lavender to almost anything, which I must confess, I didn't like. My biggest hate is chocolate infused with lavender, it's like biting into a bar of soap even the thought of it makes me nauseous. Ever since I've been quite reluctant to use it, however once in a while I do experiment with lavender and these muffins went down very well in Kaffeine last week. Hopefully you find this recipe a bit more subtle.

450g plain flour
200g sugar
100g salted butter
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk
100ml milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300g greengage plums
4 Angustifolia lavender stalks

METHOD:
Place butter in a sauce pan and melt over a medium heat, once melted remove from heat and place to one side to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and stir together until evenly combined. Slice the plums in halves, remove the stones and slice them into quarters. Pick the floral buds off the the lavender and roughly chop into smaller pieces and add to dry mixture along with the plums. Beat eggs into butter and pour into dry muffin mix along with the buttermilk, milk and vanilla. Using a butter knife, cut the wet and dry together until just incorporated. Grease a 12-hold muffin pan with oil spray or butter then evenly divide the batter into the pan, bake in pre-heated oven set at 180ºC for 25 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. Best served cut in half and lightly toasted under a grill then spread with butter.

Damson Friands

Damson are one of my favourite fruits to cook with, quite sour and not really edible in its raw state. These small cherry-sized plums tend to make an appearance in September (autumn) for around 3 weeks and then you'll have to wait another year to harvest. The best way to enjoy damsons are stewed or jellied then pushed through a sieve to remove the stones. Since the season is so short, I tend to buy up in large quantities and freeze them for later use.

600g flaked almonds
300g caster sugar
250g good quality salted butter
100ml butter milk
10 egg whites
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

ICING:
300g wild damson
150g caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
300g cream cheese
100g mascarpone

METHOD:

Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat until it becomes foamy then remove from heat and leave to stand. Ground almonds in food processor until they are fine like breadcrumbs (might take several minutes to get this consistency). Place the ground almonds in a large mixing bowl with sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and mix together until combined. Add the buttermilk, egg whites, vanilla, butter to the dry mixture and beat together for 2 minutes.

To bake friands grease friand pan with either oil spray or butter and 3/4 fill each mould. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 180ºC for 25 minutes.

To make the icing put damson, water and sugar in sauce pan and place over a high heat, cook for about 10 minutes until a syrup forms then remove from heat. Pass the damson through a sieve and using the back of a spoon push through the flesh and discard the stones. Put cream cheese and mascarpone in mixing bowl then add 3/4 of the damsom syrup, beat until well combined. Using a tablespoon place a large dot of icing on top of each friand followed by 1 teaspoon of damson syrup.

Plum and Cherry Brandy Muffin

The picture sums it up! I could quite happily pick this muffin out of the screen and eat every last pixel.
Plums and stone fruit in general are very very gradually coming into season, most varieties are still rock hard. However you might find the odd squishy plum sent up from South Africa or South America at your local supermarche which are idea for cooking with. I've married the plum with cherry brandy which gives a lovely stumped, rustic look and taste hic...great.

450g plain flour
200g sugar
100g butter
100ml buttermilk
200ml milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 200g plums
100ml cherry brandy plus extra for brushing
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

METHOD:
Put butter in sauce pan and place over a medium heat to melt, once melted put aside to cool slightly.  In large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and stir together till combined. Slice plums in half and removed the stone's and cut plums into 1cm cubes, add to the dry mixture. Once butter has cooled slightly beat in the eggs, vanilla and add to dry mixture with milk, buttermilk and cherry brandy. Using a butter knife cut through the wet and dry combining together till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with oil spray or butter and evenly distribute the batter into pan. Sprinkle tops of muffins with a little extra sugar and place in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 25 minutes. Once cooked brush the tops with a little extra cherry brandy, leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out.

Yellow Plum and Yoghurt Muffins

Stone fruit season is my favorite time of year, days are longer, weather is warm, less clothing and a huge variety of produce. Yellow plums come in season towards the end of autumn and these muffins are a good way to use up some of the early season fruits sweet and tart.

450g plain flour

150g white sugar

75g butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

150ml milk
150ml natural yogurt
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
200g Yellow Plums diced

Method:

Melt the butter, in separate large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and plums. beat the eggs and vanilla in with the butter and pour into flour mixture with milk and yoghurt cut through the muffin mixture with a butter knife till just under mixed this is the trick to making a good muffin. Grease a 12 muffin pan (3inches in width and 1inch deep) evenly spoon the batter into muffin pan and sprinkle extra sugar on top, bake in oven at 180oC for 30 minutes, once baked cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.