Black Plum Cardamom Crumble Food

CARDAMOM PLUM CRUMBLE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F Line a 9x9 square baking pan with foil or parchment paper with long ends so you can lift the bars out after they've cooled for easy cutting.
• Cream the soft butter, sugar, and cardamom until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla and salt. Note: it's important that your butter be at room temperature. I like to leave it out overnight when I know I'll be baking.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix just until there is no dry flour left. Don't over mix.
• Take 2/3 of the dough and pat it into the bottom of your pan. I like to scatter the dough in crumbles across the bottom, and then start to pat it down. It helps to flour your fingers, or use the bottom of a metal measuring cup to tamp it down. Take the time to get the dough evenly distributed. Note: you're not looking to go up the sides of the pan with the dough, just to make an even flat layer. Steal a little more dough if you need it to cover the bottom. I like to refrigerate the pan and the remaining dough while I make the filling, just to keep it chilled.
• Toss the fruit with the sugar, extract, and lemon and mix well.
• Spoon onto the crust, spreading out evenly. Top with the remaining dough, making crumbles with you fingers as you add it. Some of the fruit will show through, that's not a problem.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until just starting to turn golden and the fruit is sizzling. Let cool before lifting the crumble out and slicing into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

PLUM AND BLACK CHERRY BUTTERMILK SHORTCAKES WITH GINGER CARDAMOM WHIPPED CREAM

Steps:

• For the buttermilk shortcakes: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Chill 2 large mixing bowls, a pastry cutter, the flour and cubed butter in the freezer for 15 minutes before assembling the shortcakes.
• Add the flour to one of the chilled mixing bowls. Working quickly, cut the butter into the flour using the chilled pastry cutter (or your fingers); the goal here is pea-size balls of butter. In batches, add the buttermilk until the dough is cohesive yet still moist. (You may not need all of it.) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly press into a 1-inch-thick round. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter or the business end of a dry measuring cup, cut out 8 biscuits.
• Preheat a cast iron skillet in the oven for 5 minutes.
• Swirl the oil in the bottom of the skillet and gently arrange the biscuits in the skillet, making sure they are all nestled up against each other tightly.
• Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the sanding sugar. Bake until the tops are just slightly golden brown, about 15 minutes.
• For the plums and cherries: Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the plums, cherries, granulated sugar, lemon zest and juice, ginger and cinnamon. Cook, stirring very gently as the fruit releases its juice, until the fruit is slightly soft, a few minutes. Take off the heat and add the butter. Gently stir until melted.
• For the ginger cardamom whipped cream: In the other cold bowl, mix together the cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, cardamom and ginger. Beat to medium peaks.
• For assembly: Split a warm shortcake with a fork. Place the bottom on a plate or shallow bowl and spoon on some of the warm plum and cherry mixture. Dollop on some whipped cream and sprinkle with some candied walnuts. Top with the top of the shortcake. Spoon on some more of the warm plum and cherry mixture, dollop on more whipped cream and sprinkle with more candied walnuts. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 7 more.

PLUM, RASPBERRY JAM & CARDAMOM CRUMBLE SQUARES

Steps:

• Butter and line a 30 x 20cm baking tin with baking parchment, leaving an overhang so you can lift out the traybake later, then butter the parchment. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• To make the pastry, put all the ingredients, except the vanilla, into a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add a couple of teaspoons of very cold water and the vanilla, then blitz again. The mixture should come together into a ball. If it doesn't, add a little more cold water and blitz again. Press into the tin using your fingers and the back of a large spoon, then bake in the oven for 15-18 mins until pale golden. Leave to cool for 15 mins.
• Stir the cardamom seeds and the lemon juice into the jam until smooth. Spread the jam over the pastry base, leaving a 2cm border all the way round. Cut each plum half into 1cm slices. Lay these in rows, overlapping, on top of the jam.
• To make the crumble, put the flour, ground almonds, butter, sugar and lemon zest into a food processor (you don't need to wash it out first), and blitz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Tip this over the plums and scatter the flaked almonds on top. Bake for about 35-40 mins until the top is golden and the plums are tender. Leave to cool completely in the tin.
• Carefully lift the traybake out of the tin onto your work surface using the baking parchment. Leave for a few hours so the fruit can settle. Cut into squares or rectangles, then sift some icing sugar over the top, if you like.