Roasted Cinnamon Plums Food

SPICY OVEN-ROASTED PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
• Place the plums, cut-side up, in a single layer in the baking dish.
• Whisk together the orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and cardamom in a bowl; drizzle over the plums.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until plums are hot and the sauce is bubbly. Top with toasted almonds, if desired (see Cook's Note).

ROASTED CINNAMON PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
• Cut the plums in half, and remove the pits. Place the plums in a baking dish, skin-side down, and sprinkle with sugar, and cinnamon, and grate a little lemon zest over the top.
• Place the baking dish in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or until soft.
• Serve over warm bread that has been buttered or 'buttered and honeyed.'

ROASTED FRUIT CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• For the fruit: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and grease a 9-inch square baking pan and another pan large enough for the fruit with cooking spray.
• Add the cinnamon sticks to the pan and nestle in the fruit, cut side up. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, syrup, orange zest and juice and vanilla extract and pour over the fruit.
• For the streusel: Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt and pecan pieces, if using, in a small bowl. Pour over the melted butter and rub the mixture together with your fingers until crumbly and well combined.
• For the cake: Use a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugars together until pale and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla extract and yogurt.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine.
• Spread a little less than half of the cake batter into the 9-inch pan. Scatter with half of the streusel mixture then carefully cover with the remaining cake batter. Sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
• Bake the cake and the fruit for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the fruit is cooked down and soft. Set aside to cool slightly or all the way to room temperature
• To serve, cut the cake into squares and serve topped with the roasted fruit.

PLUMS POACHED IN VANILLA, CINNAMON, ANISE

Steps:

• Cut plums in half and remove the stones. In a sauce pot bring the remaining ingredients to a boil. Add plums and cook quickly until tender. Pour out onto a sheet pan to stop cooking and allow to cool. Serve fruit with a bit of the poaching liquid.

ROASTED CINNAMON PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
• Cut the plums in half, and remove the pits.
• Place the plums in a baking dish, skin-side down, and sprinkle with sugar, and cinnamon, and grate a little lemon zest over the top.
• Place the baking dish in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or until soft.
• Serve over warm bread that has been buttered or 'buttered and honeyed.'.

ROASTED PLUM CHUTNEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Heat the oil in a medium (10-inch) ovenproof saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the plums, apple, brown sugar, orange juice, Port, cinnamon, star anise, mace, and salt. Bring to a boil on top of the stove, place in the oven, and roast for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and syrupy.
• Remove from the oven and discard the star anise and cinnamon stick. (Be careful; I wrap a kitchen towel or oven mitt around the handle of the pan to remind myself that it's very hot!) Mash the fruit roughly with a dinner fork. Serve at room temperature or cold with cheese and crackers.

CINNAMON PLUMS WITH FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• For the plums: Put the cranberry juice and sugar into a wide saucepan and stir to help start dissolving the sugar. Then put the saucepan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves entirely.
• Halve the plums and remove the pits, then halve them again if they are big brutes.
• Once the sugar's dissolved into the red liquid, add the cinnamon stick, then turn the heat up, bring to the boil and let the pan bubble away for a couple of minutes until the mixture is on the way to becoming syrupy.
• Now turn the syrup down to a simmer and add the plum halves or quarters and cook them gently for about 10 minutes, although note that this is based on starting off with viciously unripe fruits so you might need less time.
• Once the plums are tender but not disintegrating, remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave to keep warm. You can make the plums in advance and either serve them at room temperature with the French toast or warm them up again.
• For the French toast: Whisk together the eggs, milk, ground cinnamon and sugar in a pie dish.
• Sit 2 pieces of bread in the eggy mixture, turning after each side has soaked up enough to color the bread yellow, so that it absorbs the liquid but doesn't fall to pieces.
• Melt half the butter in a frying pan and cook the 2 soaked pieces of bread for a couple of minutes each side. Transfer the yellow, eggy bread, scorched golden in parts, to warm waiting plates. Meanwhile, soak the next 2 slices.
• Melt the remaining butter to cook the last 2 slices in the same way.
• Serve alongside the beautiful scarlet plum compote.
• Make Ahead Note: The compote can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to bowl to cool, then cover and refrigerate. Warm the compote gently in saucepan before serving.
• Freeze Note: Cooled compote can be frozen in airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as above.