August 13, 2012

My DIY: Summer Plum Sauce

Steve and I stopped at a Farmer’s Market in I-have-no-idea-where-I-was and they had so much beautiful produce it was hard to decide. And distracting me up at the front of the stand, with their juiciness and little plump bottoms enticing me were these:

Tasty little devils! I was so entranced I bought more than I could rationally consume, and thus needed to find something to do with them. I decided to make a plum and red wine sauce that I figured would be tasty on ice cream. Here’s how I did it:

1lb pitted fresh plums

1/2c sugar (adjust to your taste – I like it tart!)

1 generous tablespooon of butter

1 stick of cassia (or cinnamon - or try cloves, etc)

a few peppercorn for zing

1/2-1/3 c red wine

Bring it to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. It achieves an incredible colour almost immediately:

Then let it cool a bit and serve on ice cream:

I love it – tarty and spicy. But it is a bit wintery in flavour and I think if I did this again in summer I would go for a minty accompaniment, rather than spicy. And for a real wintery tinge later in the year, I’d add some port rather than red wine. Try your own variation!